Games I Finished in 2021

Compared to the last two years, the amount I spent on games spiked up this year though it didn't reach the numbers of the two years before those. It was almost exactly equal to the price of two fresh AAA releases but since I only buy stuff with deep discounts, I got a lot more than two games. The purchases went mostly into growing my, once again considerable backlog because gaming subscription services kept me busy (even now).

I could've been more patient -- again reminding myself. One particular event that stung a bit was Epic Games giving away the whole Tomb Raider reboot trilogy to finish off the year. I had bought Shadow of the Tomb Raider in September but hadn't even touched it yet. That seems to be the theme with Epic's giveaways: When they actually hand out a game I'm interested in, I have always played and/or bought it already. I in fact prefer the 10€ coupons Epic sometimes combines with the sales. I get what I want for a really deep discount. For instance, Disco Elysium now in my backlog, was just 8€. That's a steal for a modern classic. (Edit: It would have even been 2€ cheaper had I waited for Lunar New Year sale...)

As for what comes to the new releases of 2021: not a whole lot for me. I suppose that is the case every year, really. I'm still looking forward to playing Deathloop, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is on my list, and finally Chorus as a bit of a surprise release at the end of the year seems like a cool space shooter.

The number of games I manage to beat yearly appears to stay fairly constant. 300 hours spent on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion alone probably wasn't worth it yet I feel satisfaction for having beaten it so thoroughly.

Great

Hades [post]
Greek mythology themed isometric hack and slash action roguelike. Supergiant Games' (current) opus magnum. Great visuals, music, and action. 

Immortals Fenyx Rising [post]
Light-hearted third person action adventure. Another colorful game inspired by Greek mythology. Ubisoft Quebec seem to make the best Ubisoft titles.

Fine

Control [post]
Third person shooter/action adventure in a 'new weird' setting. Didn't quite nail its mechanics but definitely entertaining despite that.

Lords of the Fallen [post]
Third person fantasy action roleplaying game. An attempt at a Dark Souls type of game. Reception lukewarm at best but I considered Lords rather compelling and immediately replayed it few times.

STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order [post]
Third person action adventure. Another game using the Dark Souls mold but is too shallow. More depth in game mechanics and customization would've made Fallen Order a great game.

The Ascent [post]
Cyberpunk twin-stick shooter. Has many not-quite-there elements but the strong presentation and great gameplay feel make it a good game in my book.

Mediocre

Assassin's Creed Origins [post]
Third person action adventure in ancient Egypt. Location-wise interesting, story-wise okayish, and gameplay-wise mediocre. Repetitive open world as is usual for Ubisoft.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla [post]
Third person action adventure in Viking-era England. Its writing is bad, the world repetitive (though visually pleasing), and combat just average. Another mediocre game from Ubisoft Montreal.

Pillar of Eternity II: Deadfire [post]
Isometric fantasy RPG. A mediocre sequel to a mediocre game, largely due to the non-engaging narrative.

The Council [post]
An episodic third person mystery investigation game in alternative 18th century. The game's premise is highly intriguing and that lasts for the first two episodes or so but then the narrative and mechanics start failing. One should probably keep an eye out for Big Bad Wolf's next game however.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion [post]
First person fantasy ARPG. At this point there's no real reason to go this far back into the series; Skyrim is more modern (even if 10 years old now too) and better in about every way.

The Technomancer [post]
Third person scifi ARPG set on Mars. Spiders' progress shows but is not yet on the level it's in GreedFall.

Bad

Mars: War Logs [post]
Third person scifi ARPG. Earlier visit to Spiders' Mars setting. Low budget; simple and bland.

Risen 2 - Dark Waters [post]
Third person fantasy ARPG with a heavy splash of pirates. Slight improvement from the very janky first game.

Risen 3 - Titan Lords [post]
Third person fantasy ARPG with a dislikeable protagonist. Why do Piranha Bytes games improve so little with every iteration?

Torchlight III [post]
Isometric ARPG. A shameful entry for the franchise which can now be safely ignored. The IP's rights holder Perfect World has now even teamed up with a Chinese company to produce some trash mobile game.

In my 2019 round-up I said that all PC now needs is God of War -- and that is actually happening on the 14th of January. That is great! I like that previous PlayStation-exclusive games are making their way onto PC. (I should probably start looking to update my machine but those GPU prices -- good grief.)

I have a feeling there will be more than the usual amount of games that interest me and which are great too in 2022. Of course there's no knowing the ways of delays and such but I'm eyeing up at least Starfield, Thymesia, Weird West, Steelrising, and Dying Light 2. Everspace 2 has unfortunately been pushed all the way back to 2023: I reckon Rockfish Games got funding from Microsoft by having the game on the PC game pass and could increase their scope.

My hesitant new year's resolution is to beat my gaming backlog.

7 more perfect games and +2% from last year

Edited 2022-01-07: Be more patient...