I was never a fan of gaming awards and it’s rare that I finish any significant amounts of games released in a certain year in that year to rate them. For example, I finished both Final Fantasy VII Remake and 13 Sentinels in 2021 versus 2020. Had I finished those games in 2020, I would have rated them as some of the best games I played and finished that year. So when Drew proposed we contribute to a series of game award articles, I nearly scoffed at the idea. Then I actually gave it some thought. I had at least tried a few games released in 2021 and Drew’s criteria was pretty forgiving. It turns out seeing is believing as his own article was both hilarious and genius. Geoff’s post played it straight. I’m probably going to split the difference.

I finished exactly zero 2021 games this year. Like Geoff, I’ve been focusing heavily on my backlog and Twitch has been a great way to tackle a bunch of those games. However, I have also been adding new games to my collection. I feared whenever I did get around to buying the physical editions, they might go out of print and become rare. Looking at you Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, a game I had to buy on the eShop due to its expensiveness and rarity. I bought nine games released in 2021 and actually tried four of them. My ratio of buying games to playing them is pretty bad. Sisyphus might actually have a better chance of pushing that boulder up a hill than I have of ever clearing my backlog at this rate. Let’s talk about what I did play.

Best demo by default:

Monster Hunter Rise makes this list because I did try the demo when it released in January. I even livestreamed my struggles on Twitch for your entertainment. My biggest issue with Rise is how differently, yet similarly it controls compared to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. It’s just enough to be a pain to play. Given that the confirmation and cancel buttons are switched on Nintendo systems, muscle memory from Iceborne was a curse for me. The new movement system via Wirebugs was a lot of frantic fun, but my mind kept defaulting to World’s Clutch Claw. Controlling monsters with the Wirebug was a nice change of pace. The Palamutes made traveling exciting and their assistance along with Palacos made fights a bit easier. That said, playing on the Switch, especially in handheld mode felt cramped. I stopped playing World in order to give myself a chance with Rise, but I’ve yet to get into Rise. Here’s to hoping the 2022 Sunbreak expansion gives me the kick I need.

Best demo I forgot to play:

Project Triangle Strategy wins this one by, you guessed it, default. When the demo dropped in March my husband played and enjoyed it. It reminded him of Final Fantasy Tactics, one of his all-time favorite games. I love that Triangle Strategy shares an HD2D style similar to Octopath Traveler. Originally, I wanted to play it and even make a DC Plays video for our YouTube channel. I just never got around to loading up the game after I downloaded the demo. Next thing I knew it was December 31st. Whoops.

Best sequel to a game I have yet to play:

By default Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin wins this award. I actually nabbed a copy of Monster Hunter Stories on 3DS, fearing the game would become difficult to find some day. To my surprise a sequel was announced and released in 2021. I streamed the first two hours of this game on Twitch, figuring it would 1. make a great first impressions video, 2. refresh my memory whenever I actually got around to this game. What I played of Wings of Ruin was a lot of fun. It’s definitely the Monster Hunter take on Pokémon and I approve. The cel-shaded graphics were fitting for the Switch, it was a lot of fun to create a character, and the battle system was both easy to pick up and engaging. I especially loved the Rock, Paper, Scissors aspect of fighting styles when it came to head-to-head monster attacks. Plus, the tricks and tells I’d picked up from playing MH: World and Iceborne came in handy. The story was fascinating as Riders viewed monsters aka Monsties as partners, while Hunters were essentially violent brutes. I’d love to play the original 3DS game first before returning to Wings of Ruin.

Best remaster of a PS2 game:

I was surprised when Atlus announced Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne would be remastered and released on PC, PS4, and Switch. It’s a great PS2 game that received a digital port to the PS3, but didn’t nearly get enough attention. Geoff even wrote about how hard it was to obtain three years prior to its remaster. My time with Nocturne consisted of what I livestreamed on Memorial Day. The battle system and the gameplay were easy enough to grasp because of my experience with Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey and the Shin Megami Tensei IV duology. The first boss in the game was a pushover, but I suspect the dreaded Matador fight would have been a challenge. If I didn’t already have so much on my gaming plate, I would have liked to have sunk more time into Nocturne. Not a lot is enticing me for 2022, so I may very well return to the third mainline SMT game.

Best remaster of an SNES game:

A remake of ActRaiser in the form of ActRaiser Renaissance is a surprise from Square Enix that no one saw coming. Given how revered the original 1990 SNES release is, it was surprising the game was never given a re-release outside of the Wii’s Virtual Console. Many fans have lamented the fact that it never appeared on the Wii U’s Virtual Console, the SNES Classic, or even the Switch Online catalog. Fans were pleased when ActRaiser Renaissance appeared not only on the Switch, but the PS4, Steam, and mobile.

This building sim/2D platformer was a game I had been interested in for years since I learned about its existence through the 1UP iteration of Retronauts a decade ago. For whatever reason, I never got around to buying it on the Wii’s VC, so it was a day one purchase on my Switch. I actually dabbled in some of the game a few hours before writing this article, which makes it a last minute addition. I played two short platforming stages and I can’t decide if I prefer movement with the analog stick or the D-pad. My small village is just starting to expand as my devout followers do my bidding. Renaissance is fantastic so far. It’s something I definitely need to devote more time to before it’s swallowed up by my backlog.

Most ridiculous moment of the year:

Drew decided to surprise everyone during a post-Thanksgiving livestream with his boldest gimmick yet. Drinking a Jones Turkey & Gravy soda while he continued to play Cat Quest. Spend 2000 channel points and he’d take swig of the cursed soda. The chat eventually made him finish it before the night was out. Someone on staff has a penchant for self-inflicted punishment.

Game of the year:

Are you surprised to learn that Shin Megami Tensei V is also my game of 2021? You shouldn’t be surprised– I even livestreamed the opening hours on Twitch. Unlike Geoff, I’m a slow player and have yet to finish, but I have crossed the halfway mark. In some ways the game feels like a step down compared to the wonderful quality of life changes and strong stories introduced in SMT IV and Apocalypse. The plot and characters feel underdeveloped (again, I am only halfway through the game), and the story hasn’t quite captured my excitement. I’m also disappointed that demon evolution is gone and that it takes spending Glory points (the game’s way of letting you customize the Nahobino, similar to app points in Strange Journey and SMTIV), to do simple things like having a demon change a move well beyond after they’ve leveled up. I’m also finding myself missing the dungeon crawling aspect at times.

That said, the trade offs aren’t bad at all. Exploring the world does feel like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sans the ability to easily vertically climb. Exploring Da’at is filled with danger as you have few companions, and it feels like a proper post-apocalyptic setting among the crumbled buildings and twisted infrastructure. Mainline Shin Megami Tensei has always been parts of the Book of Revelations turned into a video game as the factions of Law/Order (God and his angels) duke it out with Chaos (Satan and his demons), as Neutral humans have been caught in the middle. Seeing this all happen in beautiful HD on a grand scale has been an awe-inspiring experience. I didn’t even feel this way with Persona 5.

I would be remiss if I don’t mention how difficult of a game SMT V is. Not only do enemies hit hard, especially if they gain Press Turn advantages in battles, but they are also damage sponges. This can make boss fights long and difficult affairs– doubly so if you’re not taking time to buff your party and debuff the enemies. It has been rare that I’ve taken down bosses on my first attempt, though some mistakes were poor planning on my part. (Let me tell you, having a French-accented werewolf shoot lightening square up the Nahobino’s ass is a unique experience.) That said, once you get into a flow of remembering to guard, using magic and physical dampeners, and other support items, defeating a powerful enemy is rewarding. If you’re a fan of SMT you’ve probably already played Shin Megami Tensei V, or it’s on your radar. I’ll probably update my thoughts in another article once I actually finish the game.

Given how few 2022 games have caught my eye, don’t be surprised when next year’s list is drastically shorter.