‘What Should I Play Next?’: Ben’s Recommended Games of 2021
One of the questions I get asked most is “what game should I play next?” It’s a good, important question. For me, the bond shared over a strong recommendation, and the connection I make with readers who care enough about my opinion to seek it out, is why I write about video games.
My hope is that this small, curated list of games will help springboard a concept I’ve been wanting to tackle for years: developing a list of short reviews that helps people decide how they want to spend their time playing video games. I want to write about games that explore new ideas, respect my time, and provide a little bit of video game magic. The kinds of experiences that stick with me – and the ones I think might linger with you too. With all of that said, here is my curated list of games and recommendations from 2021.
LAKE
I imagine Lake was a difficult game to market for. You play as Meredith, who is returning home to house-sit for her vacationing parents in a small, picturesque little town called Providence Oaks. In her father’s stead, she delivers mail to an ensemble of home-bound characters – like an old woman who needs help taking care of her (many) cats or a long-lost friend whose small-town life juxtaposes Meredith’s decision to focus on her career in a big city.
Lake is thought provoking in a way that few games are: it gives you the time and space to deliberate in a quiet, almost soothing gameplay loop. There really isn’t more to it than delivering mail and striking conversations with Providence Oak’s small number of inhabitants. Lake is best served as a time-and-place experience. It’s not thrilling, heart-pumping, or particularly revolutionary. It is, however, the perfect experience to calm a noisy mind.
INSCRYPTION
The less you know about Inscryption, the better. Locked in a small cabin, you’re forced to play a game of cards with a multiple-personality, face-shifting mass of darkness. Locked somewhere between a roguelike and deck-builder, Inscryption is deeply unsettling. Accompanied by Jonah Senzel’s jarring, almost Hannibal-like OST, the game’s first act might be one of my all-time favorites.
The deck-building is surface level enough to get its hooks in you early, but it’s the art design and physicality of the card game that I was floored by. The anticipation that precedes the swish of a card being drawn is remarkable, and one of the highlights of 2021.
FORZA HORIZON 5
Racing games have gotten a bad rap for being vessels for graphical fidelity and rip-roaring sound design. But the unavoidable truth is that Forza Horizon 5 is both really pretty and owns incredible, detail oriented sound design. The more impressive part is that it does all of that in spite of offering hundreds of true-to-life vehicles, including classics like the ’54 Mercedes 300SL and video-game artifacts like Halo’s ‘Warthog.’
The open-world functionality of Forza Horizon has always been good, but Mexico’s diverse set of terrain makes for some excellent sequences – like rushing through a sandstorm or wet, muddy rainforest. Exploring what the Horizon’s world has to offer is the perfect pick-up-and-play experience.
RESIDENT EVIL: VILLAGE
It’s no secret that Resident Evil is one of my favorite franchises, but Resident Evil: Village manages to etch itself among the best of the franchise. It maintains the over-the-top, zealous storytelling of previous entries while developing a new set of eccentric characters – including ‘The Duke’ as my favorite character of the year, embodying the world’s sense of unexplained mystery.
Best yet, though, is the creepy and well-developed world design. Beginning with the now infamous Castle Dimitrescu, Village packs a punch with tight, interconnected level design that features shortcuts, secrets, and harrowing interactions with the game’s set of antagonists. Some of the survival horror elements don’t quite live up to the series’ standards – for instance, harder difficulties often reward ignoring as many enemies as possible instead of confronting them – but the atmosphere is too good to pass up.
PSYCHONAUTS 2
This might be the most well-earned sequel of all time. Psychonauts 2 does a lot to make the original proud, including a further investment into character and world building. Featuring a similar motif of mental health and the arduous battle toward eudaemonia, Psychonauts 2 takes full advantage of better funding and technology. The game is an absolute master-class in art design, featuring worlds that range from dark, gloomy libraries to kaleidoscopic manifestations of panic.
My favorite thing about Psychonauts 2, however, is just how whimsical and alive it feels. The game’s hub world, ‘The Motherlobe,’ is vast and filled with characters and items to discover. Psychonauts 2 harkens back to the best collectathons of past eras while delivering something that feels inspired and distinct. It feels like a game developed by people who have a deep understanding of what it’s like to be human, and uses humor and wit to communicate the highs and lows effectively. As such, Psychonauts 2 also features my favorite writing in video games this year.
BLOODWASH
This is a little unfair, as Bloodwash formally released in 2020 on itch.io. Still, seeing as its wide release came on Steam this September, and I can’t recommend Bloodwash enough, I’ll include it here anyway.
Bloodwash is a PS1 inspired gore-fest, featuring a small-town plaza and eerie laundromat. It’s almost open-world in design, allowing you to piece the mystery together through finding evidence and talking with the various shop-owners and inhabitants.
The thing I respect most about Bloodwash is that it is relentlessly shocking – almost in a way that made me wonder if they would have been able to get away with it had it not been a low-poly design. It’s almost perfectly designed at a couple of hours long, featuring one of the most terrifying final encounters in a video game that I’ve ever played. Bloodwash is my biggest surprise of the year.
GUILTY GEAR: STRIVE
Earlier this year, I made a commitment to learning more about the fighting game community and the games they love most. Guilty Gear: Strive has earned its stripes, with a gorgeous looking cast of fighters and an accessible entry-level of play.
My favorite thing about Guilty Gear: Strive is how diverse its cast of characters feel. My personal favorite is the behemoth grappler, Potemkin, whose grabs can knock out half of a health bar at a time. His slow and powerful attacks make for difficult matchups against pesky zoners like Axl Low. Moreover, Strive underlines these characters with dense lore and aesthetic design. The characters almost pop off the screen with how cool they look. Thankfully, Guilty Gear: Strive feels just as good to play as it does to look at. It’s an easy recommendation for anyone curious about the genre or familiar with its roots.
HALO: INFINITE
With upwards of ten years of disappointment under my belt, I can say it with full confidence: Halo is back. Infinite features my favorite campaign of the series since Halo 3: ODST, and has the potential to climb right past it should 343 decide to serve up some delicious, story-based DLC. The magic of Halo: Infinite is in its sandbox design, where almost anything and everything feels possible if you properly use Chief’s new set of tools.
The grappleshot is my favorite video game mechanic of the year, providing an instantly gratifying movement tool that can also snatch weapons from afar, stun enemies, and latch onto vehicles. Backed by my favorite OST of the year, Infinite‘s campaign is filled to the brim with amazing, big-battle sets. The gunplay is intensely satisfying, and the story successfully builds toward momentous encounters with grounded, powerful antagonists.
RETURNAL
This has been a very good year of games for me. I have a list of my 100 favorite games of all time, and after the dust settles I have a feeling there will be several games of 2021 that make the list. Returnal, I expect, will be the highest. With every passing day, Returnal becomes increasingly impressive to me. The biome structure has the diversity of a Mario game with the combat loop and stakes of a Souls game. When paired with my favorite sound design of the year and a haunting score, Returnal stuck its hooks in me early and didn’t let go until I beat it.
Something that has grown on me throughout the year is how well Returnal controls. It uses the new DuelSense Playstation controller to integrate an alternate-firing system, with a half pull resulting in the primary fire and a full pull resulting in the alternate fire. There’s just a deep sense of immersion, alongside my favorite sound design of the year, that Returnal manages to pull off, and as a result, it’s hard to stop thinking about it. As such, Returnal is my game of the year.
Ben’s Accolades
Best Character – ‘The Duke’, Resident Evil: Village
Best Art Design – Psychonauts 2
Best Writing – Psychonauts 2
Biggest Surprise – Bloodwash
Best Mechanic – Halo: Infinite
Best Original Soundtrack – Halo: Infinite
Best Sound Design – Returnal
Game of the Year – Returnal
