Our year is officially coming to a close and we are about to look on to a new year of gaming. The Game Awards has passed and the official awards have been handed out, but before we can jump into 2022, our team wanted to take a look back over the list of games that have been released throughout 2021 and provide our Top 5 Games of this year. As usual, we are separating our AAA and indie titles to their own lists, so here are our choices for games in the AAA category!

Game of the Year: METROID DREAD

Easily the most deserved title to take the top spot on the list goes to Nintendo’s game Metroid Dread! Bringing the series back to the genre literally named after its original versions, this Metroidvania game brought a mixture of nostalgia and new adventures to a new height of entertainment for new and old players alike. As one of our highest reviews from 2021, this game is sure to bring multiple enjoyable playthroughs for a large number of its player base.

DEATHLOOP

This innovative title from Arkane Lyon has brought a new perspective of gameplay and action-based puzzle solving to the game industry. Deathloop is a title that was interesting from the moment it was first announced and then followed through with a wildly exciting game to playthrough. It is another game that deserved its incredibly positive review score and belongs on the list of the top games for 2021.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

After Square Enix partnered up with Marvel, they announced the Guardians of the Galaxy game by Eidos Montreal. This surprising announcement led to a game that was a surprising hit! Some film adaptations don’t end up translating to games as well as players would hope, but this game was not made to let the fans down. As a wonderfully entertaining game, it deserved the positive recognition it received from its reviews and is a title that any Marvel fan can truly enjoy.

PSYCHONAUTS 2

Psychonauts 2 was the title players have wanted since the first game was released and so well-received and, once again, Double Fine Productions made sure it was well worth the wait. Taking players on an adventure that always had them wondering where they would end up going next, this game never failed to entertain its players with delightfully surprising gameplay sessions. With the ability to be a fun title for almost any player to pick up the game, it earned its positive reviews and slot on the list of top games for 2021.

SCARLET NEXUS

Creating an anime game is one thing, but to create a whole new anime that is released as a game and watchable series simultaneously is a different level of production. That is what Bandai Namco pulled off when they created Scarlet Nexus and the game alone was something that any fantasy-action gamer could enjoy. With a wild story, told from two perspectives, and tons of gameplay elements for players to take advantage of, this game earned itself a backlog of positive reviews and a spot on our top games of 2021 list.

Honorable Mentions

While our Top 5 games were picked based on an internal voting system we host annually with our team, there are a lot of games brought up for consideration. Since we can’t pick all of the games to be in our top choices, we wanted to give them their deserved representation by listing them here, in our honorable mentions for 2021.

Now, all that is left is to look forward to another year of gaming and finding a new list of titles that will bring us entertainment like never before! Of course, this list is fully opinion-based, so we are curious to know - do you agree with our list? What games would you have wanted to see in the Top 5?