LogFAQs > #961399030

I'm first this year? Cool!

Guardians of the Galaxy (PS5)
A day late for GotM, but that's okay. A win here was an awesome way to get started in 2021!

Wow this was an awesome game! I wanted it the second I saw it at E3 and it lived up to every single expectation and more! The gameplay was fantastic. The exploring felt like it was out of The Last of Us or Uncharted (complete with the banter you'd expect from those games, in pure Guardians of the Galaxy style), while the battles were a phenomenal mix of solo-blasting while coordinating your teammates' special attacks. Battling to pure-hype 80s tunes after huddles was awesome, this was really my kind of soundtrack. I ended up doing a boss battle (Fin Fang Foom) to "Never Gonna Give You Up" and that was fucking amazing. "Every 1's a Winner" was another hype tune to battle to, and hell, most of them ("Don't Worry, Be Happy" was a bit out of place).

I often get overwhelmed and confused when there are a lot of customization options but that wasn't a problem here. The game was entirely linear and that included upgrades to equipment and moves; there was nothing difficult to figure out about it. Without giving away too much, some of it was even story-related in a very cool way that really added to the overall Guardians experience. There were some tough battles but most of them were enemy hoards - the bosses, even later-game ones, I actually found pretty easy to muscle through, even though they took a long time. I know that my actions had some effect on the story but I'm not sure to what degree. I do know that I had Mantis, World Force, Cosmo and Lady Hellbender all help me through Chapter 14 and I seem to have avoided some massive enemy hoards thanks to them, so I guess I did SOME stuff right!

Speaking of the story, it was everything you could want from a Guardians of the Galaxy game. Each and every character had the charm and whimsy you'd expect from this franchise, while still having enough originality to make this adaptation stand out from the rest and be its own thing. I liked the way they incorporated the "origin story" here, picking up with the Guardians team already established while providing some origin via flashbacks. A great way to get right into the action of the game while still providing an origin story. There were plenty of wacky moments, hysterical dialogue, and over-the-top action, but also some very emotional moments and dare I say it I actually felt a tiny bit of water in my eyes in chapter 15 when Star Lord was convincing Nikki that Ko-Rel was dead. They also left out plenty of staple Guardians characters, locations and themes, no doubt to leave room for a sequel and I hope to God it happens.

I will say this - I found a surprising number of glitches for a major release in 2021. A lot of getting stuck between objects and walls, and on at least one occasion I spawned out of bounds after a cutscene. But I wouldn't say they hindered the experience.

Overall this game was an absolute delight. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the source material, and even if you're not, if you enjoy exploration games with fast-paced action battles, I still recommend it. This is definitely my pick for Game of the Year 2021.