Gah, yeah I bought this at release but still haven’t played it yet! Doc Burford of Paratopic worked on it.
I decided to buy Trials of Fire based on the positive word of mouth…and I apparently already bought it back in April? I do not remember this at all…
Destructoid’s overall pick highlights why I raised my eyebrow at that Forbe’s Indie top ten that didn’t even include it while giving a high spot to a port of a 6 year old game.
The Guardian posted their list today, nice to see Unpacking make another appearance:
Some solid picks in there Scott. Solasta had great mechanics. Trials of Fire is probably my favorite on your list. The tactical battles are just so well done. I loved Gloomhaven the board game and have the digital version but haven’t put much time into it yet. It seems super solid though and I need to just play it. It may be enough to push me to get the Banners of Ruin and Ruined King, both which are on my wishlist. I really need to start playing Wrath of the Righteous and put more time into Wildermyth. I was disappointed in Griftlands and I don’t remember why. I think I just didn’t like how they did the deck building, but the characters and writing were good.
Yeah, solasta is half price on steam. Thinking about picking it up
It’s also on Gamepass.
Solasta is? Thanks
For the graphics snobs
RPS finished their Advent Calendar.
Our game of the year 2021 is Inscryption.
Kotaku staff continue their own personal top 10s. Warning, Renata Price’s Top 10 includes a lot of games that didn’t come out in 2021!
Warning: Ian Walker’s list contains a game from 2022, which is also cheating.
John Walker’s list contains quite a few games that haven’t come up yet in this thread! And I figured that’s verging on impossible by now since the thread has been going for a bit.
Luke Plunkett’s list is more in line with the lists in this thread so far, but also has a couple that are not traditionally on most lists.
Also, they love doing lists, so they also put together a list of top RPGs for 2021.
The Besties podcast used to always be about pitting games against each other and forcing the four hosts to come to an agreement on which is best. For me, it was a stupid conceit with a wonderful outcome that made it my favorite game podcast. The show changed format a number of times, including for awhile being a once-or-twice a year podcast to determine the best game of the year.
Now they are weekly again, but have foregone the artificial competition in most episodes to become a more standard “Here are some recent games we liked or maybe a retrospective of cool old games” podcast, but the year-end is still a Gaming Thunderdome. Here’s the results of their bracket, hidden in case anyone wants to listen to the two-episode finale.
For the BDG fans in the house (so, me and @ArmandoPenblade), he’s got his top 5, each accompanied with a cute themed cookie:
It was absolutely essential viewing, of course. I don’t know if I could beat any of his picks, though, hah. Though Inscryption intrigues me. I wish it were on Switch, though.
I’ve been putting it off because I know that the second I buy it on Steam, it’ll be announced for Switch. But given its accolades and how hard it will be to remain unspoiled, I may just need to suck it up and do it.
Ugh, yeah. I also find that almost all my gaming right now is most fun with my partner beside me doing her own thing and occasionally quipping. Since I guess Steam Link is basically a dead platform(?) and the newest console apart from the Switch I own is a 360 with like 3 games, options are limited, however :)
But Inscryption looks so cool!
For me, at least, 2021 games I’ve played and liked (a lot, actually) are basically Super Auto Pets and Eastward. I’m hoping to carve out some time for Tales of Arise soon, since I do have a deep and silly love for that weird little JRPG series. I did technically play Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, but it mostly served to remind me why I don’t like combat-heavy d20-based TTRPGs rather than provide much in the way of entertainment value, sadly.
Oh, I think Jackbox Party Pack 8 is the 2021 version, and my friends and I got some fun out of that for a few online gatherings late this year.
You can get it for 5 bucks on epic, which is a crime, really.
I’m going to put a game out there that I know isn’t going to make any lists. This is one I grabbed during the epic sale:
Wolfstride
I hesitate to call this a great game. I don’t think it is. But it is very much one of those that is more than the sum of its parts and I loved my 20ish hours with it (though I was ready for it to be over). It’s more graphic novel than mech battler until the late stages. Very stylish. Good music. VERY anime. I haven’t seen writing this bizarre since Amped 3. Don’t expect everything to make sense or have all the questions answered.
This game isn’t for everyone, but if it looks intriguing to you, you are probably the audience, and you can get it cheap during the epic sale.
Oh! Wolfstride is OUT?? Thanks for the heads up! Looks like it’s really flown under the radar…
Good stuff, and now I know about… <checks notes> Record of Lodoss War - Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth -
Here’s a deep dive on good indie games from this year (70 of them!). Reminded me that SPOOKWARE exists, and is also on sale on itch, so now I gotta play that before I make my GOTY list!
Great video. I didn’t know BDG was still making videos after leaving Polygon.
I surprised at the strong showing Resident Evil Village is suddenly making. It seems like the last few lists posted in this thread have really talked up Resident Evil Village.