The 2021 is coming to an end, so it’s a good time to look back at videogame releases of this year, trying to sum up those that have left their mark on the market the most. After several searches and many hours of playing, we at Tech Princess offer you our selection of best video games of 2021.
The best video games of 2021
It Takes Two
Let’s start with the award winner Game of the Year 2021, or It Takes Two, the unique multiplayer video game developed by Hazelight Studios and published by Electronic Arts. Playfully speaking, the product is configured as a third-person action adventure, in which two players must work together to control a miniaturized married couple due to a present spell.
The game offers an incredible variety of gameplay, practically almost changing genres at each level, and guarantees one very pleasant multiplayer experience, especially if played with your sweetheart. It Takes Two is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S and PC.
Resident Evil Village
Let’s change gender and go to Romania, because it’s time to Resident Evil Village, the new chapter in the most iconic horror saga ever. Capcom has managed to produce a very solid survival, which takes the soul of Resident Evil and reworks it without upsetting its foundations, despite the reference being that of Eastern European folklore.
Between vampires, werewolves and other aberrations you will hardly be disappointed with this product. Moreover, we point out that the game should have an expansion, even if the Japanese software house has not yet published any information in this regard.
Returnal
Among the best video games of 2021 it is not possible not to mention also Returnal, an elegant roguelike released exclusively on PlayStation 5 by Housemarque and which immediately attracted the attention of critics and audiences. The game puts us in the shoes of Selene, a shipwrecked space explorer on a mysterious and deadly planet, who doesn’t even allow her to die from a space-time distortion.
Our aim will be to make our way to the bowels of the celestial body, looking for a way out of the seemingly infinite nightmare into which Selene has fallen.
Deathloop
We remain in the exclusive area of PlayStation 5 with Deathloop, developed by Arkane Studios. This game was undoubtedly one of the most pleasant surprises of this year, despite starting slightly on the quiet side. Playfully speaking, the game is configured as a shooter, in which we will be trapped in a time loop, as the title suggests.
The player will have to impersonate Colt, an assassin who has the task of killing 8 enemies called “visionaries” by midnight, whose failure to kill causes history to repeat itself over and over again. Complete with stealth and action mechanics, the game has been very well received by critics and audiences alike.
Halo Infinite
From the PlayStation ecosystem let’s quickly jump to that Microsoft to talk about Halo Infinite, arrived in the last months of 2021. The new chapter of the historical shooter saga has not failed to impress long-time fans, both in terms of the campaign and the mode multiplayer, the latter available longer than the former.
The game had an impressive number of players at launch, also thanks to its arrival on day one on Xbox Game Pass, an element that has allowed a huge slice of the public to experience first-hand the playfulness of the work set up by 343 Industries.
Forza Horizon 5
Always staying on Xbox in this list there is also space Forza Horizon 5, the racing game developed by PlayGround Games and showing his muscles both on the technical side and the gameplay side. In fact, the game uses the graphics engine ForzaTech redesigned for PC and the new Xbox Series X / S consoles, to ensure 4K resolution at 60fps on Series X and 1080p at 60fps on Series S while maintaining a truly impressive level of visibility.
Nothing to complain about the game formula, in line with the effective tradition of the series and that this round becomes even more spectacular thanks to the dynamic weather and a new artificial intelligence system.
Monster Hunter Rise
Let’s go back to Capcom, but this time on Nintendo Switch, because among the best games of 2021 there is also Monster Hunter Rise, the new portable chapter of the Monster Hunter saga. Rise is an excellent addition to the series, especially thanks to a combat system made with all the trappings and a large park of new creatures ready to make us skin in many different ways.
What stops the game from excelling entirely is a poor management of endgame content, which if they had been present would have made it one of the most precious pearls of this year. Despite this lack, it still remains a great action game.
Metroid Dread
Always remaining in the Switch ecosystem it is impossible not to mention Metroid Dread, the last chapter of the Metroid series released a few months ago. The game puts us in the shoes of Samus, and features gameplay as aggressive as it is fun, perfectly in line with the modern conception of the genre metroidvania.
This time the title also features some mechanics stealth, useful for escaping the lethal EMMI of maddened robots practically impossible to defeat except with very difficult counterattacks to perform.
Age of Empire IV
We totally change genre to make a short visit to the RTS, genre to which it belongs Age of Empire IV, the new chapter of the famous civilization builder saga. The game boasts eight civilizations to choose from initially and goes back to the same division of the ages of the second chapter (High Middle Ages, Feudal Age, Age of Castles, Imperial Age).
Among the most interesting news, however, we must mention the possibility of patrolling the walls with the units and the radical gameplay diversification for each civilization, an element that deepens its characterization, net of some common element such as the generic base soldiers.