The second year of the COVID pandemic brought many delays, but it also brought a solid collection of games. The Xbox Series S/X and PlayStation 5 finally came into their own with solid titles that felt “next gen.” It was a good year for games. That’s pretty much every year these days, and that says a lot for the health of the industry.
Honorable Mentions
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
- Fights in Tight Spaces
- Overboard!
- Resident Evil: Village
- Wildermyth
10. Forza Horizon 5 (XONE/X, PC)
The mainline Forza series has never done much for me. I’m not a gearhead, so it and Gran Turismo are more series I admire from afar. However, the Horizon series is the perfect blend of fidelity mixed with arcade gameplay. This for me straddles that line better than any previous entry. Part of it is the open world of Mexico—racing from forest to coast to volcano all within one race. Part of it is the upgraded graphics—there are moments I forgot I was playing a game and not watching something more authentic. It feels like the pinnacle of this formula and so while I love it, I hope the next Horizon takes more risks.
9. Hitman 3 (XONE/X, PS 4/5, PC, Switch)
The latest Hitman trilogy is underrated in that the expectation is set at it being great. Each new entry improves upon the last, but because the expectation is so high, fewer, and fewer people seem to be impressed. That’s a shame because it’s hard to think of a better sandbox game for shenanigans. Sure, some of the maps are better than others, but the fact that they keep updating the previous maps makes this third entry feel less like the sum of its maps and more a greatest hits collection.
8. Cruis’n Blast (Switch)
Cruis’n Blast is the equivalent of a movie from The Fast and the Furious franchise. It’s big, loud, and dumb—and I love it. That balance of arcade gameplay and bravado is a hard balance to capture, especially these days when the arcade market itself is so anemic. But Blast manages to capture the spirit of titles like Revolution X. No one thinks Revolution X is a great game, but at the time it was a blast to crowd around with friends while both enjoying and laughing at it at the same time. Is it a fun racing game? Yes. Is it basically a roller coaster on rails? Definitely. I just don’t care because I’m having too much fun.
7. Guardians of the Galaxy (XONE/X, PS4/5, PC, Switch)
After the disaster of The Avengers game, the same publisher hyping a Guardians game didn’t instill much excitement. Ever worse, the early trailers showed off what looked like a fairly rote licensed title, and nothing as creative or special as Marvel’s Spider-Man. And yet, a funny thing happened—the game turned out better than even good. That’s largely thanks to a storyline that feels earned and not simply playing off of the better-known film franchise. The constant character chatter could have weighed this title down, but instead it miraculously elevates it something much more than your typical action game—you care.
6. Halo Infinite (XONE/X, PC)
Until now, the Halo series peaked for me with Halo 3 and Reach. It’s sort of been on a downhill slide ever since. Halo Infinite, if not a full return to its highs, is certainly a step back in the right direction. Ever since I first step foot into the open area of the first Halo I felt like the series should be more like this. Drop me onto a planet or halo and let me just figure it out. That mystery and discovery, along with approaching battles from different positions, was always an essential part of the Halo mystique. Here it all feels how you envisioned. If there’s anything to complain about, I still feel Halo’s story is the least interesting part of it.
5. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5)
In the PlayStation 2 era you were either Jak and Daxter or Ratchet & Clank aligned for your platforming needs (all the better not to speak of the Sly Cooper folks). While Jak has mostly been relegated to time, Ratchet & Clank has shown itself to be the deeper series by its ability to carry on now across four different platforms. This newest installment is the same basic gameplay of over-the-top inventive weapons, but it’s polished so intensely as to reach that space so few games outside of Mario ever manage—yes, it’s the same old thing, but it just does it better than anyone else.
4. Metroid Dread (Switch)
For many, Metroid is the true return of the queen. While Mario and Zelda get higher sales numbers, Metroid has a deeply passionate fanbase that still count its relatively few entries among the best games of all time. Dread plays off this love by taking the series back to its 2D roots and at the same time innovating with enemies that pursue you, and more complicated boss encounters. Is it the perfect game that Super Metroid feels like? No, but it’s easily the best entry since Zero Mission and deserves to sit right alongside it and Fusion.
3. Unpacking (XONE, PC, Switch)
Unpacking is a puzzle game about unpacking throughout a character’s life into new homes and apartments. While that log line may not sound like much, it’s a tour-de-force in environmental storytelling. Small items that seem insignificant in the first level take on deep emotional attachment in later levels—not just obviously to the character, but to us as the player, as well. Yes, there is an overarching storyline you must read between the lines to get, but even without that there is something cathartic about being immersed into someone else’s life and realizing the many parallels it has for us all. Utterly charming and well worth your time.
2. The Forgotten City (XONE/X, PS4/5, PC, Switch)
Time loop games make a whole lot of sense from a design perspective—what is Super Mario if not a time loop game where you replay the same level over and over until you get it right? However, most bizarrely take this fun in-world explanation and run it afoul. Here, in a game that started as a Skyrim mod, however, the developers get it right. The Forgotten City feels less like a gimmick and more you unraveling the pages of a really dense story slightly nonlinearly. In that way, at least in approach, it has more in common with Return of the Obra Dinn than Deathloop.
1. Psychonauts 2 (XONE/X, PS4, PC)
Usually when a game gets multiple delays, it’s a bad sign of development trouble. Maybe that was the case behind the scenes, but the end product of Psychonauts 2 is superb. The original Psychonauts was sort of a cult classic on the Xbox, so while the announcement of a sequel felt like fantastic fan service, it was clear how viable it would be this many years later. But the team at Double Fine made a wildly inventive platformer that tops the original at every turn. Where so many games these days feel like they’re following a corporate script, in its best moments Psychonauts 2 feels like it’s thrown the script out and is winging with the developers just as unsure of where it might head next.
