Board 8 > Game of the Year 2021 Results Reveal!

(+) Yeah! (+)

great game underrated by spinoff stigma

Wish I played Guardians of the Galaxy before submitting my list, that game is fantastic.

_stingers_ posted...

great game underrated by spinoff stigma

I got turned off when I found out it ignores Royal

Yeah that's mildly annoying but I mean... Whatever. Not the worst thing in the world because p5 is amazing on it's own

I held off on playing P5 Royal just for that reason!

_stingers_ posted...

Yeah that's mildly annoying but I mean... Whatever. Not the worst thing in the world because p5 is amazing on it's own

True but my Sumire :(

Also I'm absolutely playing it now that it's coming to PS+

Mac Arrowny posted...

What's stopping you?

Not having a switch

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/3/2/AAAG0kAACwTU.jpg
#7 Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker (PC/PS4/PS5)
Developer: Square Enix
Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers (#17 in 2019)
A Realm Reborn (#14 in 2013)

The final expansion of FF14 (for now?) has all the MMO players in a frenzy. After 2019s very well received Shadowbringers the following two years has really increased the player base of the game as word of mouth spread. It only makes sense one of these mmo expansions finally cracks the top 10.

Ff14 stans in shambles

Endwalker would probably be in my top 5 of the year but I am not far enough in to have wanted to rank it yet. The problem of being a massive game released only a couple weeks before the deadline while having server issues.

Really, I'd love to see a follow-up to the 2020 list now that I'm assuming more of us have caught up with the big games that year.

CasanovaZelos posted...

Really, I'd love to see a follow-up to the 2020 list now that I'm assuming more of us have caught up with the big games that year.

Would it change much? Maybe Hades and FF7R swap spots? Probably not.

13 Sentinels probably in the top 10 now I guess?

CasanovaZelos posted...

Endwalker would probably be in my top 5 of the year but I am not far enough in to have wanted to rank it yet. The problem of being a massive game released only a couple weeks before the deadline while having server issues.

Really, I'd love to see a follow-up to the 2020 list now that I'm assuming more of us have caught up with the big games that year.

honestly I hear this reasoning every year and I always counter with the games that are truly great will get their votes, cause people will rush to play them. The issue with endwalker? you have mmo players and those that don't.

Mac Arrowny posted...

Would it change much? Maybe Hades and FF7R swap spots? Probably not.

13 Sentinels probably in the top 10 now I guess?

FF7R was almost 100 points higher than hades, not a chance

MegamanX posted...

the games that are truly great will get their votes, cause people will rush to play them.

I disagree with this take, there are plenty of great games that go under the radar for ages because people simply don't know about them. Non-AAA titles that can't afford big marketing campaigns, or games that aren't in a series with an already established fanbase, will likely not get a massive amount of attention on release regardless of their quality!

I think these end of year lists are good because it captures the zeitgeist at this particular moment, but I expect a retrospective top 10 a few years from now would look very different in most years.

What do you think the changes would be on the 2020 list?

_stingers_ posted...

Ff14 stans in shambles

An MMO expansion getting 7th place overall should be putting everything below it in shambles! FFXIV may be the best game in the franchise, but it's not getting over those prejudices anytime soon. I should know, because I was in that same boat saying ignorant things like "MMOs aren't real games" as recently as this past February. This is higher than I expected!

MegamanX posted...

It only makes sense one of these mmo expansions finally cracks the top 10.

wasn't Shadowbringers #9?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79789470/960640303

Given that you can play FFXIV almost entirely solo at this point, I doubt the MMO thing is much of an issue. I think the fact that it came out only three weeks before the topic and people cant play the thing as much as they would like because of the queues is s much bigger issue. Not to mention the fact that it is an expansion. I didnt submit a list but I dont think I would have included Endwalker for that reason. If you want to talk about games that got hurt because they were multiplayer It Takes Two is a better example - if you dont have someone to play with you cant play the game.

I also think Hades playerbase has increased dramatically in a year. I think in the long run it will absolutely pass FFVIIR here though perhaps not yet.

Anyway, I didnt submit a list because Im still playing stuff and dont think I could accurately say what games I felt were the best this year. I hadnt finished Endwalker if I were to include it, I hadnt played nearly enough Inscryption (which has a good shot at being my game of the year now), I hadnt played enough It Takes Two (easily top 5 if not top 3), I own Deathloop but still havent touched it, and do on. I think this year with console shortages and a lot of big games either releasing late in the year or getting popular in the year is going to have this problem more than most.

I think once you get a large enough sample size, the rankings for most of the games won't change dramatically. Perhaps, December releases with small marketing campaigns are at a disadvantage, but for the other months there's enough time for word of mouth to make an impact.

However, with the rise of mobile games these things will become a bit more common. Among Us and Coin Master are big examples of games being unknown for years before becoming huge hits.

Everyone always tells people you can play FFXIV basically solo, but there are plenty of people on this very board who just don't believe that.

No matter how much it does right, there is still a general stigma against the genre. It's like how there are some people out there who still the Xbone can't play games without being online.

Endwalker being #7 is impressive. I imagine expansion packs/DLC are automatically ignored by a significant number of voters plus MMOs aren't very popular here and I don't think the other voting places would offset us.

firefdr posted...

wasn't Shadowbringers #9?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79789470/960640303

Yea i looked at the early results accidentally

UshiromiyaEva posted...

An MMO expansion getting 7th place overall should be putting everything below it in shambles!

It still lost to Tales of Arise though.

Great rank for Endwalker. Deserves even better IMO (I legit think it may be the best FF story) but coming out so late and being an MMO means it didn't really have a chance here.

Hmm, makes me want to jump in and play FF14, but Id be way behind.

SwiftyDC posted...

Hmm, makes me want to jump in and play FF14, but Id be way behind.

Being behind isn't an issue, this isn't a FOMO game. I only started to play the game in March and it only took me just over a month to get caught up on actual story content.

The issue is they've taken the game off sale temporarily because it was too popular and the servers were dying <_<

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/7/0/AAAG0kAACwaK.jpg
#6 Tales of Arise (Everything but Switch)
Developer: Bandai Namco
Tales of Berseria (#17 in 2017)
Tales of Hearts R (#35 in 2014)

I never thought I'd see a Tales game this high but this is a really good looker of a game and it benefits from First Available. In the history of next generation systems the first available of a genre or type of game usually benefits tenfold in popularity than it normally would. The original Saints Row is a bad GTA3 clone but because it was the first of its kind for a starved audience on x360? It got big. Tales of Arise cross-released at the right time.

Otherwise there isn't much to say here if you know Tales games, this is straight up a Tales game with much better graphics than the norm thats put out. The battle systems are circular open ended arenas of fun simple combos and special skill spam. There are anime twists everywhere, and skits are still around. Tales games are excellent and its nice one finally gets some due aside from Vesperia or Symphonia

Even if I have some issues with it, I'm glad for the sake of the series that Arise blew up like it did.

MegamanX posted...

Everything but Switch

;_;

Arise is definitely a good first step for future Tales games.

andylt posted...

I disagree with this take, there are plenty of great games that go under the radar for ages because people simply don't know about them. Non-AAA titles that can't afford big marketing campaigns, or games that aren't in a series with an already established fanbase, will likely not get a massive amount of attention on release regardless of their quality!

I think these end of year lists are good because it captures the zeitgeist at this particular moment, but I expect a retrospective top 10 a few years from now would look very different in most years.

Best way to find out is to do a 2010 top 10 again and compare it to the old one

SwiftyDC posted...

Hmm, makes me want to jump in and play FF14, but Id be way behind.

Ya this but not being behind just have no idea wtf to do and what to get etc

It's easy to figure out where to go.

You just have to go forward anb back, and then forward and back, and the forward and back, and then....

CasanovaZelos posted...

Endwalker would probably be in my top 5 of the year but I am not far enough in to have wanted to rank it yet. The problem of being a massive game released only a couple weeks before the deadline while having server issues.

Same, too busy for FF14 right now but I'm 99.9% sure I'll love it

Aside being 11 spots higher than Berseria is kinda sad but 2017 is a way better year so it's probably fair

The Berseria/Arise comparison can be roughly summed up in Devil May Cry 2, 3, 4.

2 = Zestiria
3 = Berseria
4 = Arise

2 shits the bed, damages the brand's name. 3 releases under the radar as a result. It manages to rebuild consumer trust due to word of mouth and better reviews, but never achieves great sales due to its handicap. 4 releases on a new console, symbolizing a fresh start, and is able to be a big sales success because of that - and because of the damage control 3 did. Despite that, hardcore fans of the series prefer 3.

There's some differences (Arise is reviewing a little better than DMC4 did) but the template is there.

...That DMC4 comparison is very apt.

To extend the comparison, DMC2 initially outsold 3. It took 3 re-releasing several times for it to catch up in sales. Zestiria, as of mid-2021, has still outsold Berseria.

To be fair, Zesteria gets it's price slashed even lower than Berseria pretty often.

Get it a cheap enough and people will be more than willing to pay for known garbage out of curiosity.

Hell, I own both Zesteria AMD DMC2!

I really like Zesteria, the overall plots not great but I really liked the cast

pezzicle posted...

Best way to find out is to do a 2010 top 10 again and compare it to the old one

I'd be down for this!

MegamanX posted...

#6 Tales of Arise

yay I got at least one prediction correct >_>

that top 5 suspense

SwiftyDC posted...

Hmm, makes me want to jump in and play FF14, but Id be way behind.

I started a newbie playthrough a few months ago. I'm planning to jump back in soon. My big issues are honestly with the controls and the online/co-op aspect. It's fairly lenient in how you have to interact with people, but it is an MMO and so you do have to "play your class a certain way" and be cognizant of how other people think of you, which is just not why I play games in general

Also original A Realm Reborn seems to be super boring/slow

ARR gets a pretty bad wrap because people are trying to set an expectation in comparison to later content. ARR is, like...typical MMO quality, typical MMO questing, just with a lot more cutscenes. It's an MMO with an FF skin.

Once you get to later content, your looking at games surpassing most of not all other mainline entries in the franchise.

Tomorrow i continue been a bad few days

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/1/3/AAAG0kAACxz5.jpg
#5 Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart (PS5)
Developer: Insomniac
Ratchet & Clank 2016 (#14 in 2016)

A game announced in June 2020 before the PS5 launch that came out just 6 months after the PS5s release. Rift Apart was a huge home run for Insomniac that already launched the system with another with Miles Morales. The game is a quintessential Ratchet and Clank experience of reach new planet explore different paths for different kind of upgrades and get a new gun each stage. A formula yes but one that works well.

The big addition here is the second character Rivet and she's a blast of fresh air for the duo. The big mobility addition here comes with the way of jet boots and the ability to kinda ghost dash. You get both upgrades early and it really speeds up the feel of the game. If I had to knock it for anything itd be that the rifts aren't used to the full potential of crazy they could be. Overall if you like Ratchet you'll love this, if you hate the series you won't like anything here.

I did not get blown away by Rift Apart like I expected to after all those glowing reviews. It is a solid game but it doesn't really do anything spectacular other than graphics and sound effects. Another thing that I don't like about the direction of the series is how apologetic and vanilla they have slowly made Ratchet. He has become almost unrecognizable from the asshole to Clank in the first game to the edgy, sarcastic hero in GC and UYA.

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

He has become almost unrecognizable from the a****** to Clank in the first game to the edgy, sarcastic hero in GC and UYA.

maybe he has just grown up

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

I did not get blown away by Rift Apart like I expected to after all those glowing reviews. It is a solid game but it doesn't really do anything spectacular other than graphics and sound effects. Another thing that I don't like about the direction of the series is how apologetic and vanilla they have slowly made Ratchet. He has become almost unrecognizable from the asshole to Clank in the first game to the edgy, sarcastic hero in GC and UYA.

That was on purpose lol, they hated how much of an asshole he was in the first game so they recast and went in a new direction. Go read up on it!

Rift apart is absolutely stunning but it gets rather repetitive. Guess you could say the same of every R&C