{"id":22721,"date":"2022-02-11T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721"},"modified":"2024-11-01T05:13:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T09:13:49","slug":"emmetts-games-of-2021-and-some-other-years-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721","title":{"rendered":"Emmett’s Games of the Year 2021 (And Some Other Years Too)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to yet another year-end list where someone gushes about the games they\u2019ve played over the last 12, and now 13, months. Much like 2020, 2021 hasn\u2019t been anything like we expected. But unlike last 2020, the past year has had a deeper effect on my headspace. So, throughout this list of games, you might notice how many of these games speak to how I\u2019ve been emotionally over the last few months and my emotional needs during that time. So, when you notice that heavy hitters like Halo Infinite and Deathloop aren\u2019t listed, before getting upset or appalled, hear me out on why thee games resonated with me more. Because I played a lot fewer games than normal this past year, and the variety of this list might show why. As always, i have 4 categories: Games of Yesteryear, Games I Own But Didn’t Make Time For, Runners Up, and my Top 5. Each category has 5 entries, and I’ll go ahead and start with the first one now…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Games of Yesteryear (Sponsored by: Titanfall 2)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

5) Ratchet & Clank (2002)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This year we got the first truly new Ratchet & Clank game since Into the Nexus in 2013. So, as a massive fan of the series, I decided to try and fill all of my gaps in the franchise in the lead-up to the release of Rift Apart. As of the beginning of 2021, I planned on playing through Ratchet & Clank, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, and Secret Agent Clank, all within the first 6 months of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I failed to follow through on that ambition, but I did make some progress. I managed to stream all of the first two Ratchet games, finally double back and beat Ratchet: Deadlocked. And of those, I enjoyed the original most, which is still surprising to me. My first Ratchet & Clank game was Size Matters back on the PSP, so from then onto the many PSP sequels, I\u2019ve been used to circle-strafing my way through combat. So, playing through the original game in the series forced me to get used to it being more of a platformer than a shooter, and I found that refreshing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narratively, the game isn\u2019t all that engaging, and its characters are perfectly serviceable, but none of that brought down the cozy and familiar gameplay. Nailing jumps, collecting upgrades and bolts, and participating in charmingly janky mini-games were just the way I wanted to start off the year. It\u2019s a classic PS2 platformer, and it comes with everything that implies, but it gave me all the aspects I crave from video games. It didn\u2019t blow me away, but man did it prove why this franchise has lived on for over two decades in the hearts of many, including myself<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Slay the Spire (2019)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is yet another game on here almost purely for gameplay reasons, but even that feels like a bit of an overstatement. Those who are familiar with my tastes know that I tend to go for more active games. But Slay the Spire is no shooter, racer,  or melee action game, but a strategy card game. Well, it might surprise you, but I\u2019ve spent well over 20 hours with the game. Ever since Drew Debessonet<\/a> put me on a few years back, I\u2019ve retreated to it on Switch whenever I wanted the most satisfying gameplay for the least amount of physical effort..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, in all honestly, that description isn\u2019t fully fair. In some ways, getting good at Slay of Spire requires even more diligence, future planning, and resource management than any of the games I regularly play. But I often don\u2019t engage much with those systems, or at least do so passively that I don\u2019t perceive any exertion of my mental energy. So, when I see the numbers go up next to my damage, gold, and health icons on the screen, it feels like I\u2019m getting a flat bonus that I didn\u2019t really put much effort into earning. I know that might sound like the opposite of an ideal experience, but sometimes, after a long and stressful day, it\u2019s exactly what I need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past year, I played so much of it that I finally saw the end of the main campaign. I had been playing the game up to this point with that being my ultimate goal. But once I defeated the final boss, I was greeted not with a satisfying ending, but with even more new cards and characters to replay the game with once again. I initially was disappointed by this, but then I considered why I enjoyed the game so much in the first place. I didn\u2019t even remember the names of any of the characters, enemies, or even the setting because the rewarding and relaxed gameplay is what kept me coming back. So, even though I finally \u201cbeat\u201d the game, I will likely continue to play for many years to come whenever I have nothing but the bare minimum of my attention to spare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Fortnite (2017)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For the longest time, I have been one of the louder detractors of Fortnite. Ever since Epic first turned it around from an obscure Rust-like to the biggest interactive franchise in pop culture, I\u2019ve clowned on the game regularly for seeming to lack a soul that wasn\u2019t borrowed from an outside franchise in some way. As someone much older than its initial target demographic, I could see how transparent it was as a product. It isn\u2019t designed just to be a fun game, but to be a compelling platform for microtransactions and brand crossovers. And even before becoming a fan of the game, I even fell victim to many of those crossovers. I hopped in to buy the Kratos, Aloy, and Mike Lowrey skins before I even played the game regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But something changed this year after booting it up once again for Ariana Grande\u2019s Rift Tour. I bought her skin and gleefully watched along<\/a> as I was carried through her interactive musical experience. But after that, I realized I owned quite a few costumes in Fortnite now, well over $20 worth, yet I hadn\u2019t played more than a few matches of it overall. Well, once Chapter 3 began and introduced crouch sliding and sighted weapons similar to Apex Legends, I finally saw what millions of others did for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortnite is so much God damn fun. Its gunplay is just refined enough to feel skill-based, but it\u2019s simple enough to be easy to pick up. Every match is full of things to do that level up your character, and many of those actions have nothing to do with getting kills and being good at the actual combat. And the bright and cartoonish artstyle always keeps the mood and tone light so that I can never get upset while playing it. In the last few months specifically, I\u2019ve come around to see the game not only as a cynical consumer product but also as a playground for self-expression and relaxed competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe I\u2019ve only come around on the game because I\u2019ve become as braindead as many of the people who love the game. Maybe they just finally crossed over with enough brands that I couldn’t ignore the gravitational pull of the game anymore. Maybe the game is just legitimately great and is, at least somewhat, deserving of the success it has. But for whatever reason, I can\u2019t claim my smug superiority as a Fortnite hater anymore, and honestly, I\u2019m glad I let my disdain go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Little Nightmares (2017)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Playdead really did a number on me with Inside a few years back. So, ever since I fell in love with that game, I\u2019ve been on the lookout for games that have a similar vibe. Little Nightmares is one such game and this past year I decided to finally try it out since its sequel was slated to drop in the same year. I was thoroughly entertained by the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn\u2019t really tell you, beat for beat, that the game is about plotwise. But as a linear ride through creepy, yet not horrifying, setpieces it certainly lingers in my mind. There were just so many effective setpieces and images: The unnervingly long arms on that one lady in the elevator, the hordes of gluttonous blobs that I ran from near the end, the unsettling urges of the player character to consume flesh at random intervals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game itself is technically a puzzle platformer, though its puzzles are about as complex as those found in Uncharted, and its platforming is about as precise as modern Tomb Raider games. But that easily digestible gameplay is what makes the moments so effective. I was there for the vibes more than the gameplay, and I\u2019m glad to say the vibes were immaculate. Now if only I made time for the sequel last year, which I already had thanks to Stadia Pro. Ah well, maybe this year\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Bayonetta (2009)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I will never forgive myself for taking so long to finally play this. Now, considering Nier Automata is my 9th favorite game of all time, I should have known Platinum Games would have made more games that would appeal to me. And considering how much I loved Devil May Cry V a few years back, I had to assume that the same team that made that franchise’s earlier titles would go on to make something as equally, and deliciously, campy. And for years I\u2019ve seen Bayonetta parade around in trailers and other games like Smash Bros and I\u2019d always perk up a bit internally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, the reveal that Bayonetta 3 would finally release in 2022 pushed me into finally jumping into this franchise that I had been curious about for ages. And well, it completely knocked me on my ass. My love for this game is so extreme that I instantly knew it\u2019d be one of those franchises that define me up there with Titanfall 2, PlayStation All-Stars, and Kane and Lynch 2. And it earns that status for not one reason, but for many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its gameplay is often tough as nails and demands a sometimes infuriating amount of mastery over its mechanics. But once you have mastered that combat, it rewards you handsomely with a beautiful dance of dodges, wicked weaves, and ultra-violence. The addition of Witch Time gives microbursts of reprieve from its intensity to give you a chance to reassess the situation and prepare another devastating string of combos. Plus, exploring every level can unlock both upgrades to health and magic and new weapons that heavily alter your gameplay style. You can wield a giant sword-like every other character action game, or you can use a whip to keep enemies at bay, or ankle-strapped rocket launchers, or shotguns, and a handful of other equally, ridiculous weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, yea, I adore the gameplay and feedback loop of this game, but its style is what makes it an instant classic for me. Its exaggerated animations, from Bayonetta\u2019s flamboyant dodges to the multitude of otherworldly enemy attacks, constantly inject creative flair into every frame. The character designs, from Baulder\u2019s gaudy face mask to the fact that Bayonetta\u2019s outfit is made of her own hair, make every single person in the game have a distinct look that matches their strong personalities. The larger-than-life bosses that are just as fun to fight as they are to gawk at in disbelief keep the combat from getting stale and punctuate the story with further escalation. And the music is a potent blend of pop and jazz that is as infectious as the spirit of the rest of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the man who adores the bombast of Bad Boys 2, Bayonetta has triple the amount of excess in its\u2019 action. As someone who loves watching badass women be badass, Bayonetta delivered on that desire more effectively than anything I\u2019ve ever played, watched, or listened to. And as someone who loves hack-and-slash combat so much that I still rank God of War III over its PS4 reboot, it delivers on that combat more satisfyingly and stylishly than any other game in the genre I ever played. This game feels like it was made specifically for me to fall in love with it. And while I wish I gave it that chance to sway me earlier, I\u2019m glad that I saved it for such a turbulent year, because it was certainly a massive oasis in a sea of discontent in my personal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Games That I Own and Know I\u2019ll Love, but Didn\u2019t Make Time for in 2021<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

5) Retunal<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This section is gonna hurt because I\u2019m gonna mention some consensus Game of the Year candidates. But trust me, I promise I\u2019ll talk more about why I didn\u2019t play these obviously great games. But let\u2019s start ripping off the bandaid with this first game, a game that, on paper, I have every reason to love. Back on the PS3, I liked a lot of Housemarque games, with Super Stardust HD and Dead Nation being my favorites from them. People have been comparing this game to Risk of Rain 2 thanks to its sci-fi aesthetic and roguelike structure. And the story seems to account for that repetitive structure in fascinating ways from what I\u2019ve heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, why haven\u2019t I sat down to give Returnal a shot? Well, it\u2019s simple, it seemed challenging. I\u2019m not one to back down from a challenge if the gameplay is fun enough (I did adore The Surge 2 last year<\/a>). But this year I just never found myself in the mood to tackle any game that threatened to delete hours of progress if I couldn’t keep up. I do own it, and now that I\u2019ve expanded my storage, I have plenty of room on my PS5 for it as well. But one of these days when I have the energy to give it all of my attention, I will certainly get to it, as I\u2019m sure I will love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 4) Psychonauts 2<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This one is a bit of a long shot considering I have so little experience with the franchise, but I\u2019ve been interested in Psychonauts 2 ever since hearing the impressions from those who have played it. The platforming already seemed like a blast, but the narrative and level design seemed to be truly next level. Just from the videos I\u2019ve seen, it seems like there\u2019s so much variety in the themes and settings in the game that I can\u2019t imagine getting tired of the ride the game would take me on. Hell, I even started the original game back on PC ages ago to prepare. But alas, I\u2019ve yet to finish, or even the PSVR side story that I also picked up. But I hope to get back to this series soon because the sequel sounds like one of the most well-written games of the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Life is Strange: True Colors<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Y\u2019all know how much I love Life is Strange. The original game is my 11th favorite game of all time<\/a> and I adored Before the Storm after finally getting around to it last year. But for whatever reason, I never quite got around to True Colors. I am interested in it, and the return of Steph definitely had me sold. But I\u2019ve heard talk about the game and the story seems to be\u2026a bit of a rollercoaster. I don\u2019t mean that people have implied that the narrative fluctuates in quality, but more that the story has some devastating moments alongside its cozy atmosphere and welcoming characters. That just seems like it\u2019d extract a lot of emotional energy from me, energy I just didn\u2019t have for most of 2021. So, yea, I will get to it eventually, and likely love it, but I just haven’t yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Severed Steel<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This is a more egregious one for me personally, even if it isn\u2019t an entry in a franchise I already love. Take two games I never shut up about, Max Payne 3 and Titanfall 2, and combine the slow-motion action of the former and the parkour gunplay of the latter. That\u2019s what you get in Severed Steel, a game I\u2019ve had my eye out for since playing its demo<\/a> several months ago. Well, I\u2019ve yet to play it simply because I didn\u2019t even pick it up until the final few weeks of 2021. And by then, I had already started working and planning for both my Video Essay listicle<\/a> and our GOTY Deliberations<\/a>. So, it wasn\u2019t meant to be this past year, but I will certainly get to it, as it looks to be a shorter game with gameplay I already know I\u2019ll love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This one is my highest priority, though to be honest, I almost never gave it a shot. Guardians of the Galaxy looked mediocre in pre-release footage and trailers, and the fact it was coming from the same publisher that released Marvel\u2019s Avengers to middling reception wasn\u2019t a great sign either. But once it dropped, many praised it for its incredible story and characters. So, thanks to that buzz, and some excellent Black Friday sales, I picked it up finally and am now halfway through it at the time of writing this. I\u2019m actually enjoying the narrative just as much as everyone said I would, and tonally it has so many similarities to Saints Row IV that I\u2019m actually upset someone didn\u2019t use that fact to sell me on the game more aggressively beforehand. But I still haven\u2019t quite seen all that the game has in store for me, so I included it here despite having a few hours of playtime in the game. Unlike other titles, like Deathloop, I don\u2019t intend to leave it behind at all, and I may very well wrap it up within the next few weeks. But for now, I have to leave it on the backburner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Runners Up<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

10) Biomutant<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Back well before I even could comprehend what a Tweet was, I was a lil pre-preteen gamer whose understanding of games was based solely on G4, conversations with classmates, and the 2-5 games my parents could afford in a year. During those years, with my insatiable thirst to play as many different kinds of games as I could, I abused cheap and free demos at every opportunity given to me. PSP Demo Center was my second home back then, and whenever I had a spare $5 lying around, I begged my parents to take me to Walmart to pick up a Jam Packed PS2 disk. I played so <\/em><\/strong>many mediocre platformers, beat ’em ups, and vehicular combat games during this time. But with my limited awareness of the heights games would eventually reach, I thought they were all great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to now, and my perspective on and tastes in games have been both changed and expanded greatly. I\u2019ve played AAA masterpieces like God of War, I\u2019ve played off-beat indies like Virginia, I\u2019ve played impeccably designed multiplayer games like Apex Legends. Yet, despite all of that, I never truly lost my appreciation of janky, yet charming PS2 games like those I sampled as a youth. And Biomutant is the game that made me confident in that fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll be the first to admit that the narrative in Biomutant is so aggressively forgettable that it even once put me to sleep. Replacing character voices with one narrator delivering every line of dialogue and lore really made all of its writing fall flat. But other than impactful story choices, the game delivers on everything it promised. It does have a fairly deep crafting system that allowed me to create a wealth of weapons, from electric machine guns to dual ice blades. The melee and gun combat was satisfying enough and switching between both styles was always fluid and fun, especially with its many supernatural powers. And even if the open world feels more like an empty set than an actual place, exploring it for resources and collectibles was always fun. And the many wacky vehicles they give you to do so make it more entertaining as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I never beat the game, but I sank several hours into it and, especially after some recent gameplay updates, I do plan on returning to it. But it was a nice bit of nostalgia for me not because it brought me back to a particular property, but because it put me back into the headspace I was in when I played the demo for Whiplash on repeat and liked it. And that was frankly quite refreshing, if only for a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9) Outriders<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Outriders is another game that felt vaguely nostalgic but in a totally different way. With games like Apex Legends, Rouge Company, Fortnite, and even some others later on in this list, there\u2019s a relatively recent subsection of games that expect you to play them for a literal slice of forever. They\u2019re always getting new content or updates that keep you coming back over the years, but sometimes I resent the fact that I can\u2019t just get my fill of them and feel content in leaving it behind for good. Well, Outriders comes from a time before this was the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is still a looter shooter with cross-platform play and three-player co-op. But upon release, all it ever promised was a fun campaign and only one raid-like activity for endgame play. There was no expectation of People Can Fly adding a battle pass, new missions, new weapons, new character classes, or any loot boxes, non-earnable cosmetics, or any other hooks for additional monetization. I found this incredibly refreshing, so when it dropped on Game Pass, I gave several hours to it. Playing something with a gameplay loop so susceptible to being exploited by greed, but isn\u2019t, made it feel like I was playing something from the PS3 or even the early PS4 generation. It kinda felt like a slightly more polished, multiplayer-enabled version of something like Binary Domain or Dark Void: forgotten PS3 shooters that had the charm to balance their lack of originality. But even then, Outriders has more going for it than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Painkiller, Bulletstorm, and Gears of War Judgement weren\u2019t enough proof, People Can Fly know how to make a good shooter, and Outriders is no different. The gunplay in this game is as varied as it is satisfying. Enemies blow up real good, but the dozens and dozens of effects you can put on weapons make them blow up in so many different ways. Plus, despite being a looter shooter it doesn\u2019t suffer from the problem Borderlands 2 does where only a handful of the millions of generated weapons feel satisfying to use. This is mainly due to how many options the game gives you to repurpose your loot. You can feed gear into other gear, break gear down into resources to upgrade or buy other gear, or even take individual aspects of gear and reapply them to stronger gear you come across as you play. And all of that is before you even account for the different class abilities and skill trees, which make your character even more powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game isn\u2019t really doing anything new on its own, but it is repurposing ideas from other games in smart ways. It does the \u201ckill to earn health\u201d thing that Doom Eternal does, but in third person now. Plus, its characters and story give Sci-Fi original series energy in a good way, even more so than Sci-Fi\u2019s own Defiance video game, thanks to more playful writing and better presentation overall. This is another game that I never beat but, especially with the improvements made in the New Horizon update late last year, I look forward to cleaning up its last few hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8) Grime<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I never thought a game like this would end up in my Game of the Year list. But when I look back at other games I love, why wouldn\u2019t I? I brought up my love of sci-fi Soulslike The Surge 2 earlier in this same article and Guacamelee got me to fall in love with Metroidvanias many years ago. Plus, while I\u2019ve barely played any of it, the gothic horror setting of Bloodborne did intrigue me. So, why wouldn\u2019t a Soulslike, Metroidvania with a surrealist horror setting tickle my fancy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grime\u2019s combat is satisfying, and its focus on parries over dodges and blocks keeps me engaged with every encounter. If Bayonetta made it clear how much I love a good slo-mo dodge, then this game made it clear to me how much I love a good parry. But here, it\u2019s not just a defense tactic, it\u2019s a major way to improve your abilities. Killing an enemy with the rebound damage of the parry will absorb them, and absorbing enough enemies will give you a stat bonus or even completely new abilities. Plus, while this isn\u2019t really a loot-based game, there are a handful of weapons and armor sets that let you switch up your gameplay styles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I dig this game for more than its chunky combat, I also love it for the fact that I just never know what\u2019s coming next. The entire game is creepy, but less in a way that builds dread and more in a way that leads to fascination. The enemy and, especially, boss design is often gnarly and compellingly offputting. Plus, when moving across segments of the map, the art design matches the grotesque features of the monsters that live there. Seeing what new oddities await me was as much of a motivator to progress as seeing what new gameplay abilities I would acquire to get me to the next environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was way more than just an excuse to get a Google Stadia exclusive on my Game of the Year list. Grime is legitimately one of the best Metroidvanias in many years and has the art direction, combat, and bosses to back it up. Now I just gotta wait for it to hit consoles so folks outside of Steam and Stadia can see what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7) Resident Evil: Village<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Funny how I claim to not like horror media when there are so many examples that contradict that claim. F.E.A.R. 2 is one of my favorite shooters of all time. I recently enjoyed lowkey horror classics in film like Suspiria and Raw. And I also realized this year that the Resident Evil series is one of my favorite game series. RE4 is my favorite, but I never regretted my time with Revelations 1 or 2 or RE 5. And my appreciation of the series only increased when I finally sat down to play through Resident Evil: Village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, besides already being a lowkey fan of the series, I was already sold on the game once I saw Lady Dimitrescu. Her campily playful presence, along with her daughters, did a lot to decrease the intensity of the terror and increase the fun of the setting. Plus, yes, she\u2019s hot. But it\u2019s those welcoming introductory chapters that got me to give it a shot, because it contrasted with the much more intimidating, straight horror tone of Resident Evil 7. I had a lot of fun playing mouse to her cat, and getting chased around while puzzling my way through her manor was a blast. But little did I know, that campy tone would not only be left behind after the first few hours, but I wouldn\u2019t mind that change much at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I find most remarkable about Resident Evil: Village is that it is a sample tray of several different types of horror. The opening chapters with Lady D are reflective of the hot vampire vibes that movies like Interview with the Vampire give off. Later chapters play with the powerless fear of being chased by unimaginable horrors that games like Outlast dabble in. Then later on you get into the industrial flavor of horror that games like You Are Empty dabble in. And by the end, you are back at the over-the-top style of horror that the 5th and 6th Resident Evil games are all about. It truly feels like this game is hopping between every single popular style of horror from the last few years, and if that isn\u2019t the case, it\u2019s at least going through all of the flavors or horror that RE 7 didn\u2019t already tackle. But none of it feels so intimidating to me, as the game revels in the artificiality of the scares, kinda like a haunted house does in real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of that, however, the game is also a surprisingly fun shooter. It still doesn\u2019t match RE 4, but it\u2019s close enough to give a similar impression to that game. Plus, the progression in weapons and character upgrades feel great, especially when I explored the village for additional resources and currency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks mostly to the general memability of its tall vampire lady, Village really felt like a cultural event, even more so than the similarly successful RE7, RE 5, and RE 4. With everyone hopping into this game right around the same time, and some of my favorite<\/a> video essayists<\/a> making content about the franchise to coincide with the release, it had me looking back on the franchise as a whole. I never thought of myself as a Resident Evil fan, but I\u2019ve played nearly a half dozen titles in the franchise at this point, and I still have the urge to play even more, including the most polarizing entities like RE 6. So, I wanna thank Village for being a game that so completely accomplished what it set out to do that no one could deny its quality. It\u2019s not at all perfect, but it aims for one vision and delivers on it with confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6) Splitgate<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Longtime Emmett followers will remember that I got in on the ground floor of Splitgate years ago, as I played it for my Bad Boys for Life review<\/a> back in 2019. Back then, I loved the game for what it was, but it wasn\u2019t much at the time. It was clearly a blast, and many of the reasons I love the game now were present back then, but it lost momentum fast. The game had some positive buzz leading up to and at initial release, but people fell off quickly, mainly due to the fact it was a PC-only title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, the good folks at 1047 Games didn\u2019t take that lying down, and they went quiet until earlier in 2021 when they re-revealed the game, complete with a graphical overhaul, PS4 and Xbox versions, and cross-play on all platforms. It got me back into the game for the first time in a long time, and it made me remember just how much I love this game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Splitgate is a game that wears its inspirations, Halo and Portal, on its sleeve, and those borrowed elements are hard to ignore. Using portals to traverse and outsmart opponents was always as satisfying as it was playfully joyous. And despite being a Halo novice, for the most part, its shooting mechanics instantly clicked with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that is honestly a bit of an understatement. The gunplay in this game is immensely <\/em><\/strong>satisfying, more so than most of the multiplayer shooters I regularly visit. I have a hard time pinning down why that is, though. It has hit markers, fast weapon handling, a low time-to-kill, and satisfying sound design and feedback when connecting shots. But all of these aspects can be found in Apex Legends, Call of Duty, and other similar games. But I am nowhere near as good at those games as I am at Splitgate. Keep in mind, I\u2019ve been playing on a controller only, even back when the game was exclusive to PC, but I am regularly topping the scoreboard whenever I finish a match. For whatever reason, I\u2019m most able to just get in the zone and demolish <\/em><\/strong>folks online when playing Splitgate, and I certainly did so throughout this past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I don\u2019t want those new features to take too much of a backseat. The game looks a lot sharper on my PS5 and Series X, which are able to run games at a higher resolution than my PC. The addition of a battle pass, with items more unique than those in the PC exclusive release, new ways to rank up your character, like daily and weekly challenges, and new maps all make the game so much more engaging to play. And the fact I can party up with anyone on any platform makes the game so much more accessible as well. But, I\u2019m being honest, the reason Splitgate lands a spot on this list is for just how satisfying it was to perform highly at it. That is a feeling any shooter could give me, but no other did, so it rightly earns a spot here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

My Top 5<\/strong> Games of 2021<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

5) Crusin Blast<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At the time of me writing this, it has been *checks watch* nearly 14 years since the world has seen a proper Burnout game. I\u2019ve platinumed Burnout Paradise twice (once with the remaster) and I\u2019ve even played a bit of it on Xbox as well, but no game has really given me the same feeling that Paradise gave me all those years ago. However, there are still some games that get close to scratching that itch. A few years ago it was Dangerous Driving, and a few years before that was Onrush, and this year, that scratch was itched by, of all things, a Switch exclusive port of an arcade racing game?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruzin Blast wasn\u2019t on my radar at all<\/em><\/strong>, but outside of the solid week where I was obsessed with Bayonetta, it was easily the biggest burst of obsession I had all year. I picked up the game on a whim after seeing some gameplay and hearing just enough positive talk about it, and it really blew me away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, when I say this is an arcade title, I mean that both literally and genre-wise, as this was something literally played in arcades. Because of that, the polish in this game is super minimal. Graphics look like a really good PS2 game, physics are over the top, and destructible environments and cars don\u2019t leave behind much destruction after the initial damage. But it\u2019s all so colorful, so fast, and so frenetic that none of those facts detracted from the experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I said earlier that this game has some heavy Burnout energy, but the gameplay structure isn\u2019t actually that similar to Burnout. There\u2019s no crash mode, no road rage events, and the only even type is straight races. But, as Errant Signal<\/a> said in his video on Burnout Paradise, Burnout games are the Hot Wheels of the racing genre, and Crusin leans into that understanding of cars wholeheartedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game delights in giving you the gaudiest, most vibrant vehicles (and sometimes, unicorns) to race through the most impossible, extreme environments. Like, you can drive a Hummer through some Roman ruins, but why stop there when you can also drive a helicopter over a cracked fault line in the middle of an earthquake? That\u2019s what makes these races feel like so much more than just a race. Things will happen throughout a race that subtly change the track from lap to lap, giving you more optional routes and collectibles to find. Much like Burnout, you can take down competitors by raming them, but unlike that game, the mid-air trick system is a bit more involved and way more cartoonish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, take the destructive, yet playfully juvenile spirit of Burnout, and replace any sense of groundedness left with any and everything that a 12 year would think is cool. This is a winning formula for me, a guy who prefers Saints Row to Grand Theft Auto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, there are some downsides. While the game has old-school arcade sensibilities, it also has modern arcade length coming in at less than 5 hours to beat, and unless you like cutting down lap times and collectible hunting, there\u2019s not too much replayability. The lack of online multiplayer means I can only get friends in on this when with them physically. And, despite my appreciation of the Switch hardware, I\u2019d love to see what this game could look like on a platform that isn\u2019t 2 generations behind graphically. But none of that matters, because the few days I spent with this game were some of the most fun I had all year, jank and all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Omno<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Fun fact, I didn\u2019t really care for Journey back when I played it on the PS3. As I get older, I more and more appreciate the tone and atmosphere it was trying to set, but as a piece of interactive software, it didn\u2019t feel all that engaging to me. Not saying it needed to be some kind of Celeste-like test of will, but when its narrative is so ephemeral and vague, it\u2019s hard to latch on to something in it when the gameplay leaves me hanging as well. Now, I say all that to say that Omno is pretty much what I would have wanted from a game like Journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omno was a game I kept coming back to for a few weeks in the fall and it was such a breath of fresh air for me. I had heard about it from seeing our own Graydon play it<\/a> on our YouTube channel, and once I saw it on Game Pass, I knew I had to give it a shot. But I didn\u2019t expect to be so enamored with it. It does have a similarly minimal story to Journey, though this has a bit more character development. But what Journey lacked in compelling gameplay, Omno has in spades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omno has a bunch of traversal mechanics, from air glides and dashes to staff surfing and teleporting, but the game doles them out in each level. This allows each level to test the player on mainly one mechanic at a time. Even when the game eventually incorporates multiple mechanics, it does so gently and still doesn\u2019t get too complex. The puzzles and traversal challenges always stay simple and easy enough to not contradict the chill atmosphere, but even when it does push back, it does so in a way where you can easily understand how to succeed. Plus, the games\u2019 most challenging moments are completely optional, but I\u2019d recommend tackling them anyway as the game is incredibly short. I got every achievement and found every secret, and it only took me 4 hours to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That brief playtime is actually a positive in this case, as it\u2019s impossible for this game to overstay its welcome. For the last year or so, the idea of putting dozens and dozens of hours into exploring an open world sounds exhausting, but meandering around the open environments of Omno never got tiring. Plus these open levels are a joy to traverse with those aforementioned movement mechanics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game is just so different from many of the games I played at the time. There are no high scores, competitive matches, deep narrative choices, or even any combat. Every interaction you have in the game is non-violent and interacting with all of the welcoming, yet bizarre flora and fauna to see how they respond is half the fun of the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I had to criticize one thing, the story is pretty lackluster. In fact, the final cutscene is a bit of a twist, but it fell flat for me as I didn\u2019t pick up on what the story was leading towards throughout, as I just vibed out to everything else about the game. But that vibe is immaculate, so if you have Game Pass, or think a 4-hour chill experience is worth $19-16 depending on the platform, I highly recommend checking it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you created a formula to objectively rank every game released in 2021, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart would probably be at the top of that ranking. It is objectively the best Ratchet and Clank game ever made. Its characters are given more depth and its story is enjoyable but also reintroduces real stakes and danger to the series for the first time in years. This is easily the smoothest any Ratchet and Clank game has played, and the several graphical furnishes and options make sure it\u2019s also the prettiest game in the series as well. And it has a trophy list that nearly perfectly ushered you through just enough content in the game to be satisfied without having to clear a massive list of objectives and collectibles. Unlike most of the games on this list, Rift Apart genuinely feels like a flawless video game, even if I did have one or two graphical glitches when playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then why is it\u2019s only #3 on this list? Well, Rift Apart feels so perfect because it is more of a refinement of a house style than it is of Ratchet and Clank itself. Insomniac is a great developer, my favorite one actually, and I\u2019ve played damn near every single game they\u2019ve ever made. So, from early on, I clearly saw the aspects that make up an Insomniac game: weapon wheels, compelling traversal mechanics, and rewarding upgrade paths. They had elements like these in all of their games since the original Ratchet and Clank in 2002, but they\u2019ve continued to pop up in everything from Resistance to Fuze to Sunset Overdrive to Spider-Man. Don\u2019t get me wrong, many of these games are some of my all-time favorites, and Rift Apart will certainly be up there as well. But after a decade of playing games with this specific gameplay feel, this specific progression, this specific vibe, I\u2019m starting to tire of it a bit. In fact, playing this so soon after Miles Morales might have led to me being fatigued with the Insomniac formula more than normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It feels unfair for me to criticize the game for this, especially when I genuinely did love it. Rivet quickly became one of my favorite fictional characters, and even Ratchet and Clank themselves were more engaging to watch this time around. New weapons like the Ricochet gun and the Blackhole Storm were as fun to use as they were to experiment with their upgrade trees. And platforming and jet boot boosting through the world is as fun as it\u2019s ever been. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But by the end of my time with the game, I felt like I simply just played another one of those<\/em><\/strong>, ya know? It didn\u2019t feel like a singular experience that I\u2019ll think back to with a fondness that grows more intense with time. It felt more like playing a Call of Duty campaign, which I pretty much always enjoy, but they don\u2019t often leave an impact on me. Maybe chalk this up to my fuzzy headspace for most of the year if you\u2019d like, but I am so glad that we get a full year break from Insomniac as they work on the next Spider-Man game. I still recommend this game to pretty much anyone, but if you feverishly consumed all of Insomniac\u2019s previous work like I did, to the point where the extended break between Into the Nexus on PS3 and rift Apart on PS5 didn\u2019t even feel that long, then maybe wait until you feel that itch for the formula once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Knockout City<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Back when I was a kid, I was way<\/em><\/strong> more active than I am now, and a lot of that is due to things like P.E., Recess, and summer camps all encouraging physical movement more than anything in adulthood. But I didn\u2019t play begrudgingly, as I loved riding my bike, playing kickball, and seeing which one of my friends I could beat in a short footrace. But above all else, I loved dodgeball more than anything. Not only was it a compelling game on its own, with its combo of dodges, catches, and hard hits making for a ballet of close calls and incredible comebacks, but I was also really <\/em><\/strong>good at it. I may not have ever had an interest in traditional sports, but I was skinny enough to dodge effectively, never tired of making quick, short movements, and had great hand-eye coordination from playing video games. Dodgeball, and also, weirdly, crab walking, felt like the two physical activities that God very well may have put me on this Earth to do. But, like everyone, I got older, my passions expanded and changed, and my love for dodgeball sat in the back of my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is until Velan Studios came out of nowhere in the first Nintendo Direct of 2021 with a bizarre trailer for Knockout City. A trailer that was so bizarre that many of those who saw it didn\u2019t really understand what the actual game was, and few anticipated it after that initial glance. Well, I was the exception. Unlike the fun but small-scale Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure, this game was a fully 3D virtual version of dodgeball that adapted the mind games, near misses, and hard hits of actual dodgeball. It played off of childhood memories I had long forgotten. So, when I saw that damn trailer, I genuinely teared up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, thank God the actual game ended up being excellent as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, it\u2019s not exactly the same as the dodgeball I grew up with. It has sprawling maps to brawl out on, not courts that have been split in half for each team. There is no purgatory in the backcourt to place opponents into, nor is there any catching a ball to get someone into or out of that purgatory. And this game is a bit more forgiving, as it takes two hits to knock someone out rather than one. But all of those are worthwhile sacrifices because the changes to the sport here more directly encourage the game to be played like a game more than a rigid sport. In fact, it kind of distills the sport down to its purest form, one where it\u2019s pretty much all about throwing, catching, dodging, or ball acquisition. This makes the game not only more accessible but also just straight up more fun to play. Even with its handful of modes and of special balls, those core aspects remain centered at all times. And it\u2019s a gameplay formula that almost never gets old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Knockout City didn\u2019t stop at being a great playing game, it also has the greatest sense of style of anything I\u2019ve played in the last year. It\u2019s like if Jimmy Neutron, Grease, and Jet Set Radio Future had a baby. It\u2019s an eclectic mix of the future (through the lens of the 80s) and diners and muscle cars (through the lens of the 50s). It makes every match so colorful and vibrant that you almost don\u2019t mind getting pegged in the head with a rubber ball for the 96th time that match. And on top of that, it has what is easily the best soundtrack of the year. It\u2019s full of catchy earworms that\u2019ll have anyone tapping their toe in the lobby menu. And overall, sound design is great as well, especially with the satisfying PANG<\/em><\/strong> that plays when getting a direct hit on someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I\u2019ll admit, while I absolutely adore this game, I haven\u2019t gone back to it as consistently as I would have hoped. As I write this, it is currently in its 4th season of content, and I didn\u2019t even get around to it when it was in its third season. But I did put in several dozens of hours, and in the weeks around launch, it was all anyone could talk about. And the fact it has cross-play, cross-progression, and found new life on PlayStation Plus, Twitch Prime, and Game Pass surely helped it stay in people\u2019s minds for a long time. But now, it\u2019s something I only come to every once in a while, because, for me, that is the ultimate fate of any live service game that isn\u2019t Call of Duty or Apex. But no matter what the future holds for this game, I will always love it with the same intensity that I had when I first learned of its existence and, if only for a moment, felt like I was a 10-year-old in summer camp, knockin heads with rubber balls once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) The Forgotten City<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This game is a special one. I had no anticipation for it, but I\u2019ve been hearing about its various forms for what feels like years. I knew about it when it was a Skyrim mod, and I\u2019ve been familiar with it all the way to its release as a stand-alone game this year. What kept it in my memory is how folks talked about it. Or more accurately, how folks didn’t talk about it. There\u2019s been this air of mystery around the title where folks don\u2019t talk about the game past its initial setup and premise. That, and the repeated praise I\u2019ve heard given to the game from folks like Blessing Jr<\/a>, made me finally give it a go once it hit Game Pass. And oh my God, I am both kicking myself for not playing this sooner and so thankful that I didn\u2019t experience this story until this time in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game puts you, a self-insert character with your choice of gameplay altering background professions, into a time loop. Basically, you get sent back in time to an obscure Roman city filled with dozens of gold statues. But when any of the two dozen or so citizens, including visitors like yourself, commit a sin, all of those statues turn to life and kill everyone. The loop only occurs when the leader of this city runs to the temple on the edge of town in the chaos to recite the spell that opens the portal that brought you into this world, to begin with, starting you back at the beginning, but with all the knowledge you\u2019ve gained on the previous loop. And you must use that knowledge to figure out who is going to break the golden rule and stop them before dooming the town once again, and again, and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know I keep saying this, but It\u2019s not quite like anything else I\u2019ve played. As you can tell from the other games on this list, I tend to go for games with loads of action and combat or games with immaculate vibes and simple gameplay. The gameplay here is actually pretty complex. Sure, the 10% of action in this game is simple bow combat. But since the other 90% of the game is just talking to people, it damn well better be compelling. Well, it is! The game has a quest log that will not only track objectives but will update when characters give you new information on those tasks. It made the ever-expanding list of things to do way more manageable when I naturally was able to make progress on all of them instead of trying to figure out which one to prioritize. As someone who found the wealth of narrative choices in games like Fallout: New Vegas to be a tad overwhelming, this game narrows that scope and makes solving its many mysteries an achievable task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And alongside the conversations, the frame of the time loop lower\u2019s the stakes of your mission and invites you to mess with the gameworld in mischievous ways. You might be trying to stop anyone from committing sin, but only you are able to cheat the consequences of it. So, why not lie, cheat, steal, and kill to get the resources and information you need? It plays off of the power fantasy inherent in time loop stories: the power of premonition. In this world, you can <\/em><\/strong>have all the answers, Sway, because you can solve problems before they even exist. It\u2019s an incredible frame that made the otherwise grounded stories between the cities residents delightfully fantastical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the built-in conveniences of the game make it feel unique. Sure, as a massive Walking Dead and Life is Strange fan, I\u2019m no stranger to narrative titles. But the nonlinear way in which everything is revealed to you makes me feel more ownership of the story. And this is wild because, at the end of the day, I\u2019m playing the same story as everyone else. But I can solve it from so many different angles that it feels less like I picked one of a few binary choices and more like I figured out my own moves to solve the narrative Rubix cube. And speaking of narrative, I should probably talk about it since its\u2019 the main reason I fell in love with this game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m going to do my best to not spoil the story, but understand that I will be talking about the story without mentioning specifics, so if that is too close for comfort for you, now is your time to go.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Forgotten City is so much more than it seems on the surface. And when I even say that, it doesn\u2019t even fully encapsulate just how many turns this story takes. All the characters in the game seem pretty one-note, but after talking to them for a while, they reveal their passions, traumas, and backstories and therefore blossom into three-dimensional humans. The plot seems straightforward enough. But before you know it, you’re trying to save folks from committing suicide, playing matchmaker, and spelunking through ruins even older than the ones you teleported to originally. Hell, your original mission to find out who will break the golden rule eventually dwarfs in comparison to the even more grandiose tasks the game invites you to accomplish. And once you accomplish those goals and get the canon ending of the four in total, then you will experience one of the most cathartic and satisfying endings I\u2019ve seen in any work of fiction, game or otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And let me talk about why that ending is so great. Remember earlier when I talked about how the time loop frame lets you live out the \u201cperfect\u201d sequence of events? All the mistakes and learning happened in a previous loop, so the current one can be where you flawlessly use your knowledge to avoid every hardship and moment of pain. As someone who always chose the karmically good choices in games like Fallout 3, inFAMOUS, and Mass Effect 2, getting to live out this fantasy was honestly satisfying. But beyond those small satisfactions, the canon ending of the game is also the most I ever felt like I \u201cbeat\u201d a game. I mean, I did everything right, tracked down all of the leads of all of the mysteries, and discovered, truly, just how deep the rabbit hole goes. And I was rewarded for that work not with a stat bonus or new weapon, but with the happiest ending I could possibly have. Everyone gets what’s coming to them, and I mean that in both good and bad ways. Every asshole has their downfall, and every good person gets\u2019 rewarded beyond their wildest dreams. And with the real world being how it is right now, I really, really needed to see that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t have to tell you all, but 2020 sucked. But what I didn\u2019t expect was that, despite the new president and a year of experience tackling Covid, not much changed in 2021. To be frank, I did expect this somewhat, as Biden was never my first choice due to my knowledge that he would never be willing to push for the kind of radical change needed in this country. But the last year really put me into a state of perpetual mind fog. Day after day, things seemed not only to refuse to get better but would often get worse. An insurrection would happen at the nation\u2019s Capitol, and some of those responsible would face charges for it, but those in office who most heavily contributed to the event are still free. Covid destabilized our economy and laid bare all of the issues with capitalism, or at least with the way the US has done capitalism in the last few decades. But those inequalities and inadequacies have gone unaddressed and, even in light of new waves of cases and variants, have gotten worse. And for people like me, someone moving on from college and into the workforce propper, it\u2019s often hard for me to imagine any kind of future worth having in a world this fundamentally broken and unjust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, getting a game that is both so engaging but also so willing to handsomely reward you for going above and beyond for other people genuinely brought a tear to my eye. I find it so hard to have faith in things these days, and despair has been winning the battle over my heart more often recently. But The Forgotten City is written as if compassion for others is the default. It believes that differences can genuinely be solved with an honest conversation. It genuinely believes people can be better than their worst moment. It genuinely believes that giving a fuck about humanity and being a good person is something worth doing. The ending really drives this all home, but throughout the game doing these niceties, even when they are inconvenient, always prove to be rewarding. And that\u2019s why The Forgotten City is not only my favorite game of 2021 but it\u2019s made its way into my favorite games of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this praise and I didn’t even talk about the endearing sense of humor this game has, the relatable portrayal of alternative cultures, the handful of world toppling plot twists, or the fact that all of this excellence took place over just 10 hours! (8 hours for my first playthrough, then 2 hours extra to unlock the true ending) This game is just a masterpiece from top to bottom, and I could talk about it all day, but instead, I\u2019ll leave it there and invite you to play this game as soon as you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s all from me this year. As I mentioned earlier, 2021 did not end up being the bounceback from 2020 that I hoped, and my exhaustion from the year has shown itself through my gameplaying habits. Simply put, I just didn\u2019t play all that much this past year. I try to at least stick to beating 2 games every month, but I fell a game short of that goal. In fact, I nearly had to scrape together the last few games in this list when my time with Deathloop, Guardians of the Galaxy, Returnal, Life is Strange True Colors, Psychonauts 2, Sable, and a few others was either cut short or just never came around. I\u2019ve been in this brain fog for a long time, and it\u2019s affected my productivity and capacity for personal enjoyment as well. And I\u2019ll give myself credit, I did do some great work this year including my Donda review<\/a>, my piece on Kane and Lynch 3<\/a>, and the fact that I finally wrapped up Keepin It \ud83d\udcaf<\/a>. But since it seems like I can no longer wait for the world to \u201cget back to normal\u201d and let everything in my life get better naturally, I will have to force myself out of this funk. That\u2019s what I want to try and work on this year. Thankfully, I have some of the best friends and family a guy could ask for, and beyond that, a loving community of friends from different communities to fall back on. But I gotta do the work, I gotta try to dig myself out of this rut. And I know I can do it too because I got way too many people in my corner cheering me on, so I will do my best to not let you guys down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, that\u2019s another 10k words from me and another GOTY article done. I\u2019ll see yall next year, and hopefully, I will have played a lot more games and will be reporting to you all from the other side of this mental molehill. Thank you all, and as I always say, keep it real, and keep it trill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to yet another year-end list where someone gushes about the games they\u2019ve played over the last 12, and now 13, months. Much like 2020, 2021 hasn\u2019t been anything like we expected. But unlike last 2020, the past year has had a deeper effect on my headspace. So, throughout this list of games, you might […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139948128,"featured_media":23022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[682621100,144779908,682626626,352],"tags":[682626491,682621663,682626744,682628444,682621592,682626393,682626188,682626208,682626153,682626466,682626335,21196801,682626574,682625464,682622223,682625847,682626098,682626333,682625822,682621677,682626553],"class_list":["post-22721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-of-the-year","category-game-opinions","category-goty-2021","category-opinion","tag-bayonetta","tag-biomutant","tag-crusin-blast","tag-ej","tag-fortnite","tag-grime","tag-knockout-city","tag-life-is-strange-true-colors","tag-little-nightmares","tag-marvels-guardians-of-the-galaxy","tag-omno","tag-outriders","tag-psychonauts-2","tag-ratchet-and-clank-a-rift-apart","tag-ratchet-and-clank","tag-resident-evil-8-village","tag-returnal","tag-severed-steel","tag-slay-the-spire","tag-splitgate","tag-the-forgotten-city"],"yoast_head":"\nEmmett's Games of the Year 2021 (And Some Other Years Too) - VGU.TV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Emmett takes us on a personal journey through his favorite games that he played during 2021. There will be surprises!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721&page=2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Emmett's Games of the Year 2021 (And Some Other Years Too)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Emmett takes us on a personal journey through his favorite games that he played during 2021. There will be surprises!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"VGU.TV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VGU.TV\/?eid=ARDE84r-3jN3IdyC7titleE19Nt39CxR8um7mdh83scPowYtsH4cSXt7MKyeYtsaU_GN-XOI5_9qwJ7L\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-11T14:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-01T09:13:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/EJs-GOTY-2021-Header-1080x608.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"608\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emmett Watkins Jr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@VGU_TV\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@VGU_TV\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emmett Watkins Jr\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"49 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?p=22721#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?p=22721\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Emmett Watkins Jr\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/21a4a46e2bf5b54ba76b977feddec67c\"},\"headline\":\"Emmett’s Games of the Year 2021 (And Some Other Years Too)\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-11T14:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-01T09:13:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?p=22721\"},\"wordCount\":10202,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?p=22721#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vgu.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/EJs-GOTY-2021-Header.png?fit=3840%2C2160&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Bayonetta\",\"Biomutant\",\"Crusin Blast\",\"EJ\",\"Fortnite\",\"Grime\",\"Knockout City\",\"Life is Strange: True Colors\",\"Little Nightmares\",\"Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy\",\"Omno\",\"Outriders\",\"Psychonauts 2\",\"Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart\",\"Ratchet and Clank\",\"Resident Evil 8 Village\",\"Returnal\",\"Severed Steel\",\"Slay the Spire\",\"Splitgate\",\"The Forgotten City\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Game of the Year\",\"Game Opinions\",\"GOTY 2021\",\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?p=22721#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?p=22721\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?p=22721\",\"name\":\"Emmett's Games of the Year 2021 (And Some Other Years Too) - VGU.TV\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?p=22721#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?p=22721#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vgu.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/EJs-GOTY-2021-Header.png?fit=3840%2C2160&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-11T14:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-01T09:13:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"Emmett takes us on a personal journey through his favorite games that he played during 2021. There will be surprises!\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?p=22721\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?p=22721#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vgu.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/EJs-GOTY-2021-Header.png?fit=3840%2C2160&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vgu.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/EJs-GOTY-2021-Header.png?fit=3840%2C2160&ssl=1\",\"width\":3840,\"height\":2160},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/\",\"name\":\"VGU.TV\",\"description\":\"Honoring The Past, Embracing The Future\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"VGU.TV\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vgu.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/cropped-square-logo.png?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vgu.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/cropped-square-logo.png?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1\",\"width\":500,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"VGU.TV\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/VGU.TV\\\/?eid=ARDE84r-3jN3IdyC7titleE19Nt39CxR8um7mdh83scPowYtsH4cSXt7MKyeYtsaU_GN-XOI5_9qwJ7L\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/VGU_TV\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCYNf0R9uHJCv-oJnEijWTWQ\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/21a4a46e2bf5b54ba76b977feddec67c\",\"name\":\"Emmett Watkins Jr\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bbde0e6bd45086073bee0f6b2bfcbe9993e4241eb1bca927c780a7044b35928b?s=96&d=identicon&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bbde0e6bd45086073bee0f6b2bfcbe9993e4241eb1bca927c780a7044b35928b?s=96&d=identicon&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bbde0e6bd45086073bee0f6b2bfcbe9993e4241eb1bca927c780a7044b35928b?s=96&d=identicon&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Emmett Watkins Jr\"},\"description\":\"Games \ud83c\udfae ~ Rap, Pop, & R&B \ud83c\udfb5 ~ Podcasts \ud83c\udfa7 ~ Movies \ud83c\udfac Writer for VGU.TV, YouTuber, @KindaFunnyVids Prom Prince \ud83e\udd34\ud83c\udffe, Southern Braptist, 100% Negus\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vgu.tv\\\/?author=139948128\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Emmett's Games of the Year 2021 (And Some Other Years Too) - VGU.TV","description":"Emmett takes us on a personal journey through his favorite games that he played during 2021. There will be surprises!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721","next":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721&page=2","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Emmett's Games of the Year 2021 (And Some Other Years Too)","og_description":"Emmett takes us on a personal journey through his favorite games that he played during 2021. There will be surprises!","og_url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721","og_site_name":"VGU.TV","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VGU.TV\/?eid=ARDE84r-3jN3IdyC7titleE19Nt39CxR8um7mdh83scPowYtsH4cSXt7MKyeYtsaU_GN-XOI5_9qwJ7L","article_published_time":"2022-02-11T14:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-11-01T09:13:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":608,"url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/EJs-GOTY-2021-Header-1080x608.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Emmett Watkins Jr","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@VGU_TV","twitter_site":"@VGU_TV","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Emmett Watkins Jr","Est. reading time":"49 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721"},"author":{"name":"Emmett Watkins Jr","@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/21a4a46e2bf5b54ba76b977feddec67c"},"headline":"Emmett’s Games of the Year 2021 (And Some Other Years Too)","datePublished":"2022-02-11T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-01T09:13:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721"},"wordCount":10202,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/EJs-GOTY-2021-Header.png?fit=3840%2C2160&ssl=1","keywords":["Bayonetta","Biomutant","Crusin Blast","EJ","Fortnite","Grime","Knockout City","Life is Strange: True Colors","Little Nightmares","Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy","Omno","Outriders","Psychonauts 2","Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart","Ratchet and Clank","Resident Evil 8 Village","Returnal","Severed Steel","Slay the Spire","Splitgate","The Forgotten City"],"articleSection":["Game of the Year","Game Opinions","GOTY 2021","Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721","url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721","name":"Emmett's Games of the Year 2021 (And Some Other Years Too) - VGU.TV","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/EJs-GOTY-2021-Header.png?fit=3840%2C2160&ssl=1","datePublished":"2022-02-11T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-01T09:13:49+00:00","description":"Emmett takes us on a personal journey through his favorite games that he played during 2021. There will be surprises!","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22721#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/EJs-GOTY-2021-Header.png?fit=3840%2C2160&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/EJs-GOTY-2021-Header.png?fit=3840%2C2160&ssl=1","width":3840,"height":2160},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/#website","url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/","name":"VGU.TV","description":"Honoring The Past, Embracing The Future","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/#organization","name":"VGU.TV","url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-square-logo.png?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-square-logo.png?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"VGU.TV"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VGU.TV\/?eid=ARDE84r-3jN3IdyC7titleE19Nt39CxR8um7mdh83scPowYtsH4cSXt7MKyeYtsaU_GN-XOI5_9qwJ7L","https:\/\/x.com\/VGU_TV","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCYNf0R9uHJCv-oJnEijWTWQ"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/21a4a46e2bf5b54ba76b977feddec67c","name":"Emmett Watkins Jr","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bbde0e6bd45086073bee0f6b2bfcbe9993e4241eb1bca927c780a7044b35928b?s=96&d=identicon&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bbde0e6bd45086073bee0f6b2bfcbe9993e4241eb1bca927c780a7044b35928b?s=96&d=identicon&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bbde0e6bd45086073bee0f6b2bfcbe9993e4241eb1bca927c780a7044b35928b?s=96&d=identicon&r=r","caption":"Emmett Watkins Jr"},"description":"Games \ud83c\udfae ~ Rap, Pop, & R&B \ud83c\udfb5 ~ Podcasts \ud83c\udfa7 ~ Movies \ud83c\udfac Writer for VGU.TV, YouTuber, @KindaFunnyVids Prom Prince \ud83e\udd34\ud83c\udffe, Southern Braptist, 100% Negus","url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?author=139948128"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbjQ5s-5Ut","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22912,"url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22912","url_meta":{"origin":22721,"position":0},"title":"VGU.TV\u2019s Official 2021 Game of the Year Awards","author":"Emmett Watkins Jr","date":"February 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It's that time of year again! You've heard us argue about these games over the last month, but it's time to finally reveal the winners of all of our categories, including the coveted Game of the Year! This page will plainly list out all of the winners in all 20\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Game of the Year"","block_context":{"text":"Game of the Year","link":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?cat=682621100"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/vgu-goty-2021.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/vgu-goty-2021.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/vgu-goty-2021.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/vgu-goty-2021.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/vgu-goty-2021.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20644,"url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=20644","url_meta":{"origin":22721,"position":1},"title":"The Player’s Club Podcast Ep 59: Our Highlights of E3 2021 (ft. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart)","author":"Emmett Watkins Jr","date":"June 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"What's Up, Playa? Emmett Watkins Jr\u00a0and\u00a0Allan Muir\u00a0are back once again to go through some of their highlights of the last few days of E3 and Summer Game Fest news. We got everything from Halo Infinite, Redfall, and Metroid Dread to Severed Steel, Road 96, and Atomic Heart. Tune in to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Podcasts"","block_context":{"text":"Podcasts","link":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?cat=682621147"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Players-Club-Ep-59.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Players-Club-Ep-59.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Players-Club-Ep-59.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Players-Club-Ep-59.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Players-Club-Ep-59.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20803,"url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=20803","url_meta":{"origin":22721,"position":2},"title":"The Player’s Club Podcast Ep 62: The Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Spoilercast (ft. Cam Hawkins & isoCristian)","author":"Emmett Watkins Jr","date":"July 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"What\u2019s up, playa? This week, Emmett Watkins Jr is joined this week by two awesome guests! Cameron Hawkins and Cristian Macias are on this week to talk about Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. The game has been out for about a month at this point, so it\u2019s about time to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Podcasts"","block_context":{"text":"Podcasts","link":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?cat=682621147"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Players-Club-Ep-62.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Players-Club-Ep-62.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Players-Club-Ep-62.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Players-Club-Ep-62.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Players-Club-Ep-62.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20788,"url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=20788","url_meta":{"origin":22721,"position":3},"title":"Roundtable: Our Top Games of 2021 So Far","author":"Josh Miller","date":"August 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"As we have passed the halfway point of 2021, we felt why not revisit an old roundtable idea? Specifically what our favorite games of the year have been so far. There's still much to come, but it's always good to reflect on what has already come - especially before the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Roundtables"","block_context":{"text":"Roundtables","link":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?cat=682628583"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/inCollage_20210708_164529249-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/inCollage_20210708_164529249-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/inCollage_20210708_164529249-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/inCollage_20210708_164529249-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/inCollage_20210708_164529249-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21774,"url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=21774","url_meta":{"origin":22721,"position":4},"title":"The Player’s Club Podcast Ep 78: Predicting The Game Awards 2021","author":"Emmett Watkins Jr","date":"December 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"What\u2019s Up, Playa? Welcome back to the Player\u2019s Club! This week is the first kicked-back, solo episode in a while, with\u00a0Emmett Watkins Jr.\u00a0taking the reigns to talk about his predictions for The Game Awards. Will Deathloop win Game of the Year? Will Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart win anything? How\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Podcasts"","block_context":{"text":"Podcasts","link":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?cat=682621147"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Players-Club-Ep-78.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Players-Club-Ep-78.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Players-Club-Ep-78.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Players-Club-Ep-78.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Players-Club-Ep-78.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22365,"url":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?p=22365","url_meta":{"origin":22721,"position":5},"title":"The Player’s Club Podcast Ep 78: Predicting The Game Awards 2021","author":"vgutvstaff","date":"December 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"What\u2019s Up, Playa? Welcome back to the Player\u2019s Club! This week is the first kicked-back, solo episode in a while, with Emmett Watkins Jr. taking the reigns to talk about his predictions for The Game Awards. Will Deathloop win Game of the Year? Will Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart win\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Videos"","block_context":{"text":"Videos","link":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/?cat=682626577"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SwROF5ztIg0.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SwROF5ztIg0.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SwROF5ztIg0.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SwROF5ztIg0.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SwROF5ztIg0.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vgu.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/EJs-GOTY-2021-Header.png?fit=3840%2C2160&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/139948128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22721"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23055,"href":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22721\/revisions\/23055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vgu.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}