What amazed us in the gaming world of 2021. Top 2021 games, Xbox’s triumph, news, and more!

2021, another year struck by the pandemic, was full of both surprises and disappointments. Since we’ve got enough of the latter, we wanted to briefly summarize what surprised us this year: from the best 2021 games with amazing titles such as It Takes Two to news from the gaming industry. Has Xbox surpassed PS? Are mobile games the future of gaming? Read our article to see what took us aback this year.

It Takes Two

This title is a pure co-op experience with a touching story and colorful characters you’ll love straight away. This game really did remind us what matters: the power of relationships. But it’s not the only thing that made It Takes Two so special. It gives you everything a good game needs: exciting gameplay and an exceptional narrative with a meaningful message. The world is interactive and responds to your actions both for gameplay reasons and fun as well. Oh, also – you can ride on frogs and partake in the war between squirrels and wasps. Neat, isn’t it? There are many reasons why It Takes Two is one of the top 2021 games, so make sure to give the game a shot yourself!

 Sometimes we need a reminder of what really matters in life. It Takes Two did its job perfectly, combining business with pleasure. We are not the only ones mesmerized by this work. It Takes Two swooped the Game of the Year award during The Game Awards. Play the game with your partner on your couch or remotely: social distancing is important after all!

Deathloop

They say that practice makes perfect, and the Deathloop game is proof that the old sages were right: the first time you don’t succeed, the second time you…don’t succeed, and so on and so forth. Deathloop redefined the FPS with its roguelike gameplay and time travel. Finally, we’ve got a game where time-traveling, quite a cliche and difficult theme, is tackled well. The island where the events unfold is stuck in the titular loop, where its inhabitants re-live the very same day. Well, except you! Every time you die, you have to start again, but whilst other people do not remember anything, you have the knowledge of previous attempts. Since you know what will happen, every loop will be, hopefully, easier for you to go through. Thanks to this mechanic, we believe that Deathloop is one of the top 2021 games.

Why did Deathloop surprise us? We were longing for an FPS that won’t be another generic shooter. There’s one more thing that made the game interesting: Deathloop multiplayer. We love it since it cleverly combines single and multiplayer mode, where your friend can hop on your game and influence your attempts. It sounds frustrating to have your buddy ruin your game but worry not. It’s really amusing!

Halo Infinite multiplayer and Xbox’s triumph

We do believe that console wars are silly. At the same time though, we have to admit that Xbox has really outdone itself this year. After the time of stagnation, Xbox game pass and their newest console Xbox series X have amassed an impressive audience. Plenty of people believe that Xbox has finally defeated its main opponent, PlayStation 5. With 2021 about to end, Microsoft has surprised us all with the sudden release of Halo Infinite multiplayer.

With a large dose of confidence, we say that it’s one of our favorite multiplayer FPS of this year. The multiplayer is everything we needed: plenty of maps and game modes guarantee lots of fun. Matches are fast-paced, and there’s no space for boredom. Oh, Halo Infinite multiplayer is free to play as well, unless you want to dazzle your enemies with some fancy cosmetics! Master Chief, do you mind telling me what you’re doing on this ship? Go and check Halo Infinite asap!

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Game

Remember Marvel’s Avengers? The game wasn’t as spectacular as fans hoped. Whilst it had some good moments, and we can’t say the game was a complete failure, we were quite skeptical about the next title under Marvel’s sign. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Game, published by Square Enix, proved that we had nothing to worry about. If you have enjoyed the movies, you’ll love the game! Entertaining commentary and banter between the characters are probably the strongest assets of the game. Conversations sound natural and perfectly embody the spirit of the Guardians of The Galaxy from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The world of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is beautifully crafted, with detailed cities and a variety of characters. Go and give it a shot!

Valheim, Death’s Door …. and other indie titles we loved

Some people say that indie games can’t compete with triple-A titles. 2021 proved otherwise, as we’ve witnessed the rise of some fantastic indie games. We have to admit that this year was slightly disappointing when it comes to some major titles that failed to meet our expectations. So when these giants fell under waves of criticism, indie games saved the (day) year.

Valheim game proved that people still love Vikings. This survival-action adventure game is packed with exploration, crafting, and plenty of Valheim bosses to defeat. We’ve wholeheartedly fallen in love with Death’s Door, a game where you follow a story of a tiny crow whose task is to harvest souls. This dungeon crawler amazed us with unique designs and rewarding progression. We believe that Death’s Door game is a perfect title for Nintendo Switch as its controls and playstyle fit a handled console perfectly.

This year was good for League of Legends fans, as RIOT has finally decided to broaden the LoL universe with other titles. Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story™, produced by Riot Forge, is an indie rhythm game that shares some similarities with the popular Bit.Trip Runner. Another title that we can’t just skip is Hades. Even though released the previous year, it was in 2021 when the game received the Hugo Award in the category The Best Video Game. Why is it so special? Since Hugo awards are all about literature, the presence of a video game on the list of winners proves that people more and more often recognize games as full-fledged works of art!

The rise of mobile games

Have you ever heard someone saying that mobile games are not real video games? Even though this myth is still prevalent in the gaming world, you’ve probably noticed that games for mobile devices have begun to look like some PC titles. The game that has totally taken over the industry is Genshin Impact-it grabbed the Best Mobile Game title during the Game Awards 2021. Its huge success definitely paved the way for other producers to invest in the branch. We can be more than sure there will be more and more advanced mobile games in the future. While this topic is a rather controversial issue in the community, we must admit that how fast this industry has developed is quite admirable.

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker

Final Fantasy XIV: Online very recently finished its first major story arc with the Endwalker expansion. The game itself has already been a success, but this year showed that FFXIV Online might become a new king of the MMORPGs. After the mediocre World of Warcraft: Shadowlands and controversies around Activision Blizzard, FF witnessed a gigantic wave of new players. The numbers were so high that Square Enix announced they … withdrew from selling the base game. Temporarily, of course! The developers decided that it was the best solution to minimize insane queues the players experienced after the release of Endwalker. This story of success has shaken the old balance where WoW was the ultimate MMO. Perhaps it’s time for Final Fantasy to take over?

The Brave New World

FFXIV: Online is not the only MMO that benefited from Blizzard’s situation. Players who sought a new title to play rushed to try out Amazon’s New World: an MMORPG that was meant to change the genre. The story of New World’s beginnings is a dramatic one. During the New World’s beta, some users reported that the game had bricked their expensive RTX 3090 graphic cards, but soon the blame was put on the hardware producer. The first days after the release players had to wait in colossal queues, as the servers couldn’t cope with the huge traffic. Despite the initial problems, the game became an instant bestseller on Steam and Jeff Bezos proudly deemed New World a huge success. Players, however, didn’t share this enthusiasm later. New World soon revealed its first major flaws, including repetitiveness and bugs. 

However, we can’t say that New World is a complete failure. The game introduced some fun mechanics and a meaningful PVP mode where players have to cooperate to defeat other factions. The environment is a clever combination of fantasy and historical influences, giving us something fresh and original compared to other titles in the genre. Developers have listened to the complaints as well and worked on several improvements, including highly anticipated new quest types. We are looking forward to seeing what New World will be like in the near future: the game has a huge potential and already has threatened WoW’s position among the top MMO games.

PlayStation 5

Did someone say PlayStation 5 restock? Getting your own console this year was a real pain, but lucky ones could test the machine’s power with a few great titles. Forza Horizon 5 stunned us with lifelike graphics and smooth gameplay. One of the earliest PS5 games, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, enchanted us with Disney-esque style and an original storyline.

Remember when people flooded the Internet with memes making fun of PS5 looks? It was true that PlayStation had received some criticism concerning its design. It seems the producers have taken these comments seriously and very recently announced the release of colored plates you can attach to your device. We think they look pretty neat! 

League of Legends’ Arcane

What is your first thought when someone asks you about movies based on video games? People usually associate the genre with semi-awkward, if not kitschy productions. Fortunately, the world of cinematic remakes is healing. Productions such as Sonic the Hedgehog or Detective Pikachu received a warm welcome from both children and adults. TV series were less fortunate in this regard, but thanks to Netflix’s rule over the industry, interest in works based on video games is growing day by day. Thanks to this popularity we got some wonderful adaptations such as Netflix’s Castlevania or DOTA: Dragon
Blood.

2021 gave us the release of Arcane, the very first TV series based on the universe of League of Legends. It became an instant hit, not only among LoL fans but also people who have never played the game before. LoL Arcane hopefully will inspire other developers to produce quality works based on video games and therefore popularize the world of gaming.

Now to the games of the future!

Every year is filled with ups and downs, but of course, we hope that 2022 will spare us from major disappointments. There’s a lot to wait for: from Horizon Forbidden West, Hogwart Legacy, Elden Ring to God of War Ragnarok. Check out the list of the most exciting premieres of 2022 to work up your appetite for some great games!