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2021 Year-In-Review: Video Games I Played
This was another big year for replays, but in a somewhat different manner than 2020—more of the games I replayed this year were hacks or randomizers so at least there was something new going on.
I did a noteworthy video game project: What the heck is on this $10 Retro Game handheld? Let’s find out!, an exploration of a cheap Chinese famiclone handheld and the 500 games installed on it.
I officially logged 19 new titles and I replayed 13 games (either the original or a hack of some sort), though that’s a little muddy because of where I drew the line of an updated game being “new.” I played an entire Steam bundle of point-and-click adventure games and a dozen other short games from itch.io bundles. I also did playthroughs of 14 other emulated NES and SNES action games, usually with cheats. I didn’t make any particular efforts to cull my various lists.
The most popular genres this year were classic RPGs and Metroidvania games, though there was a health variety beyond that. Gems of War once again accounted for the vast, vast majority of my casual game time and also virtually all of the gaming time on my Android tablet; but I drifted into a decent amount of Dr. Mario on my RG350, too.
Most of the games I played through were short. I only played more than 30 hours of two games: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Switch), and my replay of Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows (PC). The former caught up with my Hyrule Warriors record from last year, with 85 hours logged. (Plus another 50+ hours of ARR’s playthrough.) I got 20+ hours out of Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate Edition (Switch) and Gemcraft: Labyrinth (PC). The former actually saw significantly more playtime total in my house, because we played it as a family and ARR plays it with his friends.
The Switch remained our champion system. In addition to the games I already noted, ARR played a ton of Pokemon Shield and his own play of Dragon Quest; and we attempted New Super Mario Brothers U Deluxe for family game night but it fell flat. ARR also made very good use of my 3DS, playing Pokemon Y and Pokemon Ultra Moon. Everything else I played was either on Steam or an emulator.
ARR continued playing Minecraft Java edition, both with friends on Realms servers and solo. He also continued periodically playing Minecraft Dungeons (and various Lego games) and Letter Quest over Skype with my dad. He got a new Android tablet this year, which meant adding Plants vs. Zombies 2 to his lexicon along with a few less-notable casual games. He and his friends also really got into Among Us.
By genre, the games that I would say, “This is genuinely good, you should try it if you like the genre,” are:
• Classic RPG: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Switch)
• Metroidvania: Timespinner (Steam), Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (Steam)
• Arena Fighting: Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate Edition (Switch)
• Puzzle: There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (Steam)
I did a noteworthy video game project: What the heck is on this $10 Retro Game handheld? Let’s find out!, an exploration of a cheap Chinese famiclone handheld and the 500 games installed on it.
I officially logged 19 new titles and I replayed 13 games (either the original or a hack of some sort), though that’s a little muddy because of where I drew the line of an updated game being “new.” I played an entire Steam bundle of point-and-click adventure games and a dozen other short games from itch.io bundles. I also did playthroughs of 14 other emulated NES and SNES action games, usually with cheats. I didn’t make any particular efforts to cull my various lists.
The most popular genres this year were classic RPGs and Metroidvania games, though there was a health variety beyond that. Gems of War once again accounted for the vast, vast majority of my casual game time and also virtually all of the gaming time on my Android tablet; but I drifted into a decent amount of Dr. Mario on my RG350, too.
Most of the games I played through were short. I only played more than 30 hours of two games: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Switch), and my replay of Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows (PC). The former caught up with my Hyrule Warriors record from last year, with 85 hours logged. (Plus another 50+ hours of ARR’s playthrough.) I got 20+ hours out of Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate Edition (Switch) and Gemcraft: Labyrinth (PC). The former actually saw significantly more playtime total in my house, because we played it as a family and ARR plays it with his friends.
The Switch remained our champion system. In addition to the games I already noted, ARR played a ton of Pokemon Shield and his own play of Dragon Quest; and we attempted New Super Mario Brothers U Deluxe for family game night but it fell flat. ARR also made very good use of my 3DS, playing Pokemon Y and Pokemon Ultra Moon. Everything else I played was either on Steam or an emulator.
ARR continued playing Minecraft Java edition, both with friends on Realms servers and solo. He also continued periodically playing Minecraft Dungeons (and various Lego games) and Letter Quest over Skype with my dad. He got a new Android tablet this year, which meant adding Plants vs. Zombies 2 to his lexicon along with a few less-notable casual games. He and his friends also really got into Among Us.
By genre, the games that I would say, “This is genuinely good, you should try it if you like the genre,” are:
• Classic RPG: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Switch)
• Metroidvania: Timespinner (Steam), Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (Steam)
• Arena Fighting: Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate Edition (Switch)
• Puzzle: There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (Steam)