I didn’t play Tears of the Kingdom and I’m tired of starting these posts this way.
The new Zelda is by all accounts a masterpiece, an enhancement of everything great about the previous one with new sandbox mechanics seemingly made to be shared on social media. I don’t doubt my friends when they rave about it. I think I’m just… not interested?
I’ve come to terms this year with the fact that the way I engage with video games as a medium has become closer to my relationship with books. Both are too long to invest time into ones you’re not enthused about. Both are much easier to play/read a year or two after release. As much as I would love to quit my job and spend all day keeping up with the entire industry, I have too many other priorities these days.
If I were starting over, I probably wouldn’t even be making this list. But I have to. Loving video games has been a significant piece of my identity since I first played a Game Boy in pre-school. I don’t know who I would be if I let that go.
With that attitude, I’m going in a slightly different direction this year. Here is my Year in Games: all the games, old and new, that best defined my gaming experience over the last 12 months, in roughly chronological order of play.
PRODUCER 2021
Platform: PC via Steam
It’s not exactly a horror game, but an indefinable sense of dread permeates the world of Producer from the first screen. The chaotic art style carries the threatening aura of a ransom note cut from magazines. The human characters never feel human enough. This is not your world. There is no foundation of normalcy for you to orient yourself. You are lost.
When “The Boss” offers you a job as a “Producer,” a role with cryptic responsibilities working towards an unclear goal… Well, why not? You might learn something about what the heck is going on here. You might prevent the end of the world, if that sounds like something worth doing once you’ve seen what the world is. The writing is delightfully surreal and I’m confident I’ve never seen any video game, much less a graphic adventure game, look like this. It oozes swagger.
Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, & Final Fantasy II
Platform: Switch
This year I asked myself a big question: Do I like JRPGs now? I hadn’t thought so. The closest equivalents I ever gelled with were Pokémon and Persona, and while I do find those fun the RPG elements are the parts of those games I am least interested in.
I don’t remember what compelled me to buy Dragon Quest on Switch. It was cheap and historically significant enough that I figured I should, I guess. And… I liked it! It’s simple, but that’s probably why I enjoyed it. Lie in bed, fight monster, number go up, win. I dove in with no guide and no expectations, letting the world itself direct me. It was an immersive experience I hadn’t felt in a long time.
So do I like JRPGs now? Square Enix released the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series on Switch this year. I played the first Final Fantasy and, again, mostly enjoyed it. I might like JRPGs now! Then I moved on to Final Fantasy 2.
Oh. Maybe not. While I admired the attempt to shake up the leveling system, the actual story it’s attached to felt like so much of an afterthought.
Well, hey, it was the 80s. I can’t write off a genre because of a sour experience with one game. Enough people I respect extol Final Fantasy 6 that I’m determined to work my way through the series to get there. Also, I already bought them. Sunk cost, baby!
Hi-Fi Rush
Platform: PC via Xbox Game Pass
Oh hell yes.
This had me hooked from the start. That opening cinematic with the instrumental of “Lonely Boy” by the Black Keys rumbling beneath sets a tone that the entire rest of the game absolutely delivers on. The game even establishes an in-universe reason for the world being so rhythmic: In addition to his trash-grabber robotic arm, protagonist Chai was cybernetically enhanced, accidentally, with an MP3 player. He can see the natural drumbeat of reality and use it to his advantage.
I’ve always got my eye out for games that incorporate musical mechanics without being “rhythm games.” Hi-Fi Rush may be the most successful one I’ve found yet. The marriage of rhythm with fighting game combos creates a clear structure to the battles that allow even a novice like me to feel the thrill of chaining together devastating attacks. That thrill carries through to the environment. Even the flowers dance to your button presses.
I love Chai. I love all these characters. I love this world and cannot wait to return to it. And I don’t even like this genre that much! The only combo-heavy beat-em-up action games that grab me are the ones with a strong style and kick-ass music. Bayonetta, for example. Hi-Fi Rush is comfortably in that company.
The Case of the Golden Idol & DLC
Platform: PC via Steam
Is there a name for this type of data-collecting detective logic puzzle game? Your Obra Dinns, your Outer Wildses. We need to figure one out, because I need a pipeline of these things feeding directly into my Steam library.
The base game, The Case of the Golden Idol, came out last year, but I only got to it this year after the release of the DLC and subsequently devoured all of it over a couple days. I would play these until the end of time if they keep making them. Just like Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds, that mental “click” of figuring it all out is second to none, and I wish I could forget this game and start over.
It starts with a bang. Specifically, a human combustion. From there unravels a sordid story of magic, science, power, and colonialism. The DLC chapters that fill in some backstory of the titular Golden Idol are appreciated though perhaps too short to leave the same impact the main story does. Again, that’s less a storytelling fault than me wanting more. More. More. MORE.
Octopath Traveler
Platform: Switch
So anyway, RPGs. After getting bit by Dragon Quest, the next logical step to determine if I like JRPGs was to try a modern one. Some glowing reviews for Octopath Traveler 2 caught my interest, but I wanted to start with Octopath Traveler 1 first. Even though those same reviewers clarified that it’s not necessary.
I didn’t heed that warning.
Not that I didn’t enjoy the time. The battle system creates the perfect amount of strategy for my peanut brain to handle. Eventually I decided the stories weren’t interesting enough to continue. None of the characters grew to more than simple archetypes.
Still, 30-odd hours is more than I pump into most other games, so it must have done something for me. But next year I’m gonna just jump ahead to the sequel.
Ghost Trick
Platform: Switch
You’re telling me this wasn’t a runaway hit when it first came out?
The vibe of this whole release is “The world didn’t appreciate it enough the first time, so we’re releasing it again.” They’re right and I’m glad for it. Ghost Trick completely passed me by on the DS, and now it might be one of my favorite games on the Switch. Structured as a “one crazy night” narrative a la After Hours, the game zigzags across its city, meeting and re-meeting a host of characters, before culminating in a twist that I don’t think I could see coming even if I played it again with prior knowledge. It is utterly charming even at its darkest moments.
I’m most surprised at how similar it feels to the Phoenix Wright games, with which it shares a director, Shu Takumi. From the sound effects and character designs down to the general cadence of the mystery story, the whole thing feels comfortably familiar to me as a fan of those first three Phoenix games. That is the mark of an auteur.
Life Is Strange 2, Tell Me Why, & Life Is Strange: True Colors
Platform: PC via Steam
You may not know this about me, but I used to stream a lot on Twitch. Actually, I did a bunch of streaming this year. I streamed all three of these games!
Life is Strange had a huge influence on me back when it came out. I feel like that’s not a cool thing to admit anymore, if it ever was, but I can’t change who I am. Yet for as much as I still regularly think about Life is Strange, I hadn’t played the sequels (and one spiritual successor). This year I finally fixed that. The first Life is Strange sets such a high bar. How could the follow-ups possibly live up to expectations? I needn’t have worried.
These games are, simply put, important. Both development studios, Dontnod and Deck Nine, are so talented at not just creating compelling narratives but narratives that are not being done anywhere else in games of this scope. Life is Strange 2, a challenging odyssey about two Latino brothers lost in 2017 America, could easily be adapted into an Emmy Award-winning HBO miniseries. Tell Me Why, about a transgender man and his twin revisiting their childhood home, could be a, hm, let’s say Gotham Award-winning film. These games refute the idea that such stories would be more prestigious in those forms. These are video games, proudly, and the medium is better for it.
PowerWash Simulator
Platform: PC via Xbox Game Pass
I always feel a little guilty for sinking so much time into games like these. At best they’re something to fidget with while watching a YouTube video on the second monitor, but often for me it’s not even a new video, just a rewatch of something old. No matter how much I try to tell myself that not all time has to be productive or that time spent relaxing is still valuable, once I exit the game I never feel great about how that evening was spent.
PowerWash Simulator is kind of that, and it’s something else too. Sure, I’d close the program and feel my eyes sting from staring at the screen too hard. But PowerWash Simulator brings a twist, which is… a strange amount of lore? There’s an appropriate absurdity to the missions that cascade into a delightfully absurd finale. This could easily have been a forgettable podcast game. Instead it’s a curiously memorable podcast game.
Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate
Platform: PC via Steam
As products of the 1980s, the Brothers Chaps understand a fundamental truth about adventure games: The point isn’t to solve the puzzles, it’s to act a fool in order to hear all the dialogue. This game makes that literal, tying your score directly to how many lines you’ve unlocked.
It’s a modest game, only three (mostly) single-screen rooms each presenting a puzzle a full step more difficult than “nominal.” But as the scoring system suggests, the reason to play this game is to interact with these dumb animal characters. I honestly don’t think there’s anything here for people who are not already on the Homestar Runner train. I am, and I’m so starved for Homestar that this is one of two games I played on Day 1 this year. The other was Starfield.
Between this and the Steam release of an older point-and-click, I wonder if this is the form some hopefully more frequent updates will take. Boy I hope so.
Tchia
Platform: PC via Epic Games
I didn’t play Tears of the Kingdom, but I DID play Tchia.
An adventure game set in a Polynesian archipelago based on New Caledonia, Tchia is a loving homage to the region, drawing heavily on the culture, mythology, and language. It’s one of the few games I’ve played recently that left me feeling intellectually fulfilled in the way I more often get from films nowadays. The game is crafted with palpable affection for the region that inspired it.
It’s also very much a sandbox to play around in. The titular protagonist has the ability to “soul jump” into, i.e. possess, living things. She can also, impressively, change her pitch, yaw, and roll in mid-air. That leads to some great emergent gameplay, by which I mean I spent probably an hour just bonking her head against things.
When I was a kid, I would spend hours in Super Mario Sunshine just jumping around the maps aimlessly. I enjoyed being in that world more than completing the actual missions. If I was still that age when Tchia came out, it would be my favorite game of all time. The environments are built to be absorbed. Often I opted to trek the trail across an island instead of hijacking a seagull to drop me off quickly. That’s what Tchia is to me, no matter how much the actual story is about a god who eats babies.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Platform: Switch
I will always make time for my best friend Mario.
Now, I’m one of the maniacs who really really loved the New Super Mario Bros. Series, even/especially New Super Mario Bros. U. I know some people say those games started to lose the magic. If that’s you, know that Wonder recaptures that magic and more.
One thing a new 2D Mario game always draws out is Nintendo’s unparalleled craftsmanship when it comes to level design. It’s especially evident in the special world. Each of those levels strike the perfect balance of difficulty and showmanship, culminating in a final challenge that, while not as punishing as Super Mario Galaxy 2‘s final level, requires enough time and concentration to feel be an accomplishment worth bragging about. It does that without ever feeling unfair or frustrating. And it’s not just a matter of challenge. Even the easier main levels never lose that sense of precise craftsmanship. Few developers are capable of design so elegant.
I did beat that level, by the way.
Finally, a lightning round of other games I played this year that should be mentioned:
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land – I actually started this last year but only finished it this year. Not only that, I got 100% in a Kirby game for the first time since… Wow, Epic Yarn. Kirby’s transition to 3D was executed perfectly, an enhancement especially felt in the boss fights. I might go back and play the 3DS and Switch games I skipped, even though I’m confident the 2D games can’t hit as hard after beating the secret final ultra final boss rush boss of Forgotten Land.
- Deliver Us the Moon – The exact type of narrative-heavy exploration game I’m an absolute sucker for. This year’s sequel, Deliver Us Mars, only got into my library thanks to Epic’s free giveaway the other week. I’m saving it for a slow Sunday afternoon.
- The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog – I continue to believe visual novels have great untapped potential as a medium. This is absolutely not the one to crack that, not at all. But I see it as validation of that belief that Sega would let this happen to their mascot. Even if it was released as a joke, as so many western VNs are.
- Starfield – For as much time as I spent in the game (Thanks, Game Pass!), I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s there. I don’t say that with excitement. It’s overwhelming, and I don’t see myself making the time for it when I have more narratively interesting games to play. Nevertheless, the glee some corners of the internet have taken in its mixed reception is undeserved. If you’ve liked other Bethesda games, Starfield deserves your attention. Pop a Game Pass trial for it.
- Cocoon – Broke my brain so hard that I don’t know how to even describe the premise. It’s a puzzle game where… the puzzle pieces are worlds… that you can solve puzzles in?
For the sake of keeping up tradition: This list is unranked, but I should probably pick one as my “game of the year.” Eenie, meenie, miney, Tchia. Congrats, Tchia, you join such illustrious company as Sayonara Wild Hearts and, uh, Unravel 2.
I always end up thinking “I don’t play many video games anymore,” but putting this list together I was surprised at just how many I did play. (There are more I didn’t name!) Just because I didn’t hit the big names doesn’t mean I’ve outgrown gaming. It just means I’ve gotten better at prioritizing my enjoyment over “keeping up” with the zeitgeist. That’s gonna be a theme as I go through my end-of-year lists.
Didn’t I mention? This is end-of-year list 1 of 4. That’s too many, but it’s too late now, it’s happening. I’m gonna try to drop one each Friday during the month. I hope you’ll come back for them.