Your 2021 game of the year!

[FuriousDemon]

My game of the year is Returnal, which I still haven’t finished due to how much trouble I’m having in biome 5.
I had low expectations going into it, because I don’t really love Souls like games with punishing difficulty, but it still became my favorite even despite that.

Honorable mentions:
Game I played the most this year: Hitman 3 (and levels from 1 and 2 within it).
Game with best graphics: Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart.
Best horror game: RE 8.
Best mobile game: League of Legends Wild Rift.

 

[TS050]

I keep debating whether to give this a go or not, heard its very hard which puts me off.

I gave into bloodborne after being told it was really good and not actually that hard and I got my ass kicked and barely made it an hour into the game so that experience is putting me off returnal.

It was pretty difficult (I got stuck a few times in my playthrough) but the difficulty feels fair, if that makes sense? Whenever you die you kinda feel compelled to immediately try again instead of get angry at the game killing you in a “cheap” way.

Also an incredibly rewarding game. When you truly get into the zone and go for extended periods without being hit, there’s nothing like it

 

[elston87]

I've only played two current-year games this year, since not much managed to capture my interest. I have two picks, and while Hot Wheels Unleashed is my 2nd runner up for me (by a very close margin), my personal GOTY would have to be Earth Defense Force: World Brothers.

 

[Veinz]

Death Stranding Director’s Cut. It was my 2nd playthrough since I bought the og on PS4. Definitely not for everyone but I loved it, I usually don’t care about trophies but I got my very first Platinum with this game.

Crossing my fingers for a sequel!

 

[Bealdor]

Although it came out late 2020 it's definitely Cyberpunk 2077 for me.
Yes the game has its issues but it's the most intense gaming experience I had in 2021.
250 hours in and still not tired of it. About to finish my third playthrough soon.

 

[TypeRDC5]

Although it came out late 2020 it's definitely Cyberpunk 2077 for me.
Yes the game has its issues but it's the most intense gaming experience I had in 2021.
250 hours in and still not tired of it. About to finish my third playthrough soon.

Interesting opinion, I was waiting for a ps5 release to give this a go but most people's opinions are very negative, I guess that is based on the state of the game at launch and the pre release hype, a bit like BF 2042 which I actually enjoy a lot.

 

[Bealdor]

Interesting opinion, I was waiting for a ps5 release to give this a go but most people's opinions are very negative, I guess that is based on the state of the game at launch and the pre release hype, a bit like BF 2042 which I actually enjoy a lot.

Excluding the abysmal last gen console release (which CDPR was rightfully criticized harshly for), too many people expected the game to be the second coming of christ. They expected a GTA-Night City world combined with a Witcher 3 like monumental story, mixed with the complexity of a table top RPG adaption.

Yes, marketing didn't do anything to keep those expectations in check (quite the contrary) but if one is realistic, there's no company in the world that could have pulled off such a game. And the logical result is gamers feeling let down by their former favourite game devs because they released a game that's "just" great in some aspects but not groundbreaking in every single one.

 

[bleeder]

I keep debating whether to give this a go or not, heard its very hard which puts me off.

I gave into bloodborne after being told it was really good and not actually that hard and I got my ass kicked and barely made it an hour into the game so that experience is putting me off returnal.

IMO it's not as hard as Bloodborne, it's not as hard as Hades (another fantastic roguelike). It's very fast paced during combat and yes, you can die quite easily if you're reckless, but the longer you can stay alive in a run the easier that run gets.
Also once you've defeated the boss of a chosen area, the next time you play you can just skip them if you want.
I'd say try it out, but it's still a silly price everywhere, which put me off a purchase until Xmas.
Oh and you can save during a run now which is great.