Games I played in 2021 Ranked

Ranked list of games I played in 2021. Obviously, nothing is finalized until the year ends, so some placements could change substantially

The absolute bottom of the barrel
Rhythm games are supposed to have music
There are better Pokemon games out there, and they even manage to not pretend to be a unique IP too. It's got a decent UI and some of the amusingly bad/strange design decisions tho
Where are the chameleons, I was promised chameleons
I have a theory that it's called Zero Tolerance because its designed to teach you to not tolerate console FPS games and shitty level design. Mission accomplished
Sonic Team really went and knocked it out of the park with Green Hill Zone and then decided not to make any more good levels till Sonic 3
Opposite of peak Capcom beat em up
Not my preferred travel destination
Stawman: "Doom 1 & 2 are dated and bad because the levels have too much backtracking and easy to get lost in"

Me: laughs in Eternal Doom
The Dragons need a new king
iD software learning how to do level design and what not to do
It's got the same comfy vibes as fruit🍓but it doesn't quite work as well as an arcade style score chaser that it wants to be. I wanna put it higher but I can't really justify it
As a megafan of super hero comics the presentation, art style, and kinesthetics make me nut hard, too bad the gameplay isn't very good
It would probably be higher if it had more than 3 waves
It would probably be higher if it wasn't a gacha game that costs money up front
Oh look another beat em up

42

Decent mechanics held back by amateurish design
Captures the feeling of being stranded on a hostile planet very well, but there isn't enough to the gameplay for me to rate it higher
There's a lot for me to say about this game that I struggle to condense into a format fitting of this list, so I'll just say that it's one of the few games where I've gone between "This game sucks" "This game is pretty good" and "This game is pretty mid" in quick succession

39

Generating an aura that makes everything dance when you're near them was low key the best new game mechanic of 2020
Love the tech maze space dungeon crawler feel of the game, but the enemy encounters are pretty mid
Some of the X-Men have movesets that are a lot of fun to mess around with, shame about the level design tho
Solid but not particularly noteworthy Doom level
Arthropods amirite?
Feels like a love letter to old school Castlevania and NES action adventure games in general, could stand to be a bit more challenging tho
When you ask for advice the guy just tells you to buy more stuff, this says a lot about our society
I love mechs
It lacks the more challenging encounters of Bomberman II but replaces it with more level variety and more charm
It sure is a beat em up
Unique game, but doesn't really take full advantage of it's ideas, it's a concept that could use a revisit

28

Romero still got it
Yamato is a good doggy
The arcade version is slightly better than the MD version, but they're both pretty similar. Tight lethal ninja action
Basic but not bad
Comfy mix of Doom and Mario, not the greatest encounter design, but provides enough variety to be engaging. Wish it didn't give me motion sickness from playing too long tho
Reframing Beat em up weapon systems as changing a mech's loadout is a cool idea but not a particularly noteworthy game otherwise
Cute vibes and fun shooting

21

I love fish
Fun spin on the Halo multiplayer formula without much staying power
Better than Castlevania 3 tbh
Got some fun microspacing centric challenges and you can also punch bullets out of the air like you don't care
A gacha should not be this good, but it is still a gacha
Fantastic world design and atmosphere, and the platforming is okay too
The same Castlevania platforming you know and love, now with faster pacing and spectacular sprite work
More beat em ups should have rocket launchers
Mixes Zelda 1 style exploration and shmup patterns nicely
A beat em up revolving around aerial combat is a neat idea that's lot's of fun and the bosses are excellent, though the execution has some flaws
If it came out in the PS1 era and people actually played it, would probably be regarded as a classic
Solid beat em up action from Capcom, and captures the feel of cartoonier Punisher very well
Another one that will probably go up as I finish it. Stylish as hell
Also peak Capcom beat em up
Tactical decision making and exciting combat with every run thanks to an excellent enemy roster and great weapon diversity
Damn that Ninja really can jump
A beautiful ballet of bullet dodging, cancelling, and split second decisions
Absolutely love the open ended exploration mixed in with tight enemy encounters
Could probably take the number 1 spot if I had played it a bit more
Peak Capcom beat em up and peak beat em up in general tbh

1 Comment


2 years ago

Finalized, in a very timely manner of course


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