Oh boy, this thread!
Gonna have to take some time to ponder things and start building my end of years stats stuff.
Favorite 2021 Release: Currently... Yakuza: Like a Dragon, 2021 feels like a really weak year for gaming so far, don't get me wrong, this game was great and I loved it, but it's definitely a bottom tier Yakuza game for me as I prefer the beat em up entries. I didn't actually play a ton of 2021 release games this year and with a month left I've still got time to change this.
Least Favorite 2021 Release: Cruis'n Blast. It's not a bad game, but they could've done so much more to give the game more oomph. Like honestly, the game felt more Rush 2 than Cruis'n, which isn't bad, I love Rush 2, but it just wasn't enough Rush 2. It made me yearn for more content and the game just couldn't provide.
Favorite Game Played in 2021: I'm going to go with Dark Souls Remastered as it's the only game I've got on my list sort of 3 times this year. I beat it myself earlier this year, started a new playthrough/ng+ to play with my wife, and started another new playthrough on X1. And it's definitely not the first time I've beat it either. So I've basically got three runs of the game going right now, 1 NG+ to assist my wife, 1 new game running squishy sorcerer because why not, and 1 new game on xbox that will be a slightly less squishy sorcerer.
Least Favorite Game Played in 2021: I'm gonna specifically look at this as games I didn't beat. My answer is going to be Sonic Colors for Wii, not because it was a bad game, but because my game was just barely damaged enough that playing the game was impossible. I got maybe 50% through the game and just the disc just couldn't get through a level anymore. It killed my progress on my Sonic franchise run because I just couldn't bother playing Sonic anymore. Luckily Colors Ultimate was announced shortly after and I knew the situation would get rectified.
Sleeper Hit of 2021: Unpacking. This game came out and I watched the trailer and both my wife and I knew we needed to play this immediately. It's just a little zen like home organization game. My wife played through and earned all of the achievements just because she wanted to do everything.
Favorite Gaming Moment in 2021: Honestly, just watching my wife go from reluctantly playing Dark Souls, to hating the game and complaining and not wanting to play, to wanting to play daily, to playing on her own. I don't know if we'll get her to play the other Souls games just because I don't own multiple copies. Bloodborne could be done, but that's about it.
Proudest Collection Accomplishment of 2021: I can't think of a collection accomplishment I'm proud of, but I'm explicitly ashamed of how many games I bought and how much I spent in November. Maybe that I finally inventoried all of my strategy guides?
And as always I'm going to add some of my own categories
Proudest Gaming Accomplishment in 2021: 156 games beat is a record that I don't think I'm ever going to beat, that number will be higher by the end of the year, but I don't see topping this.
Favorite Game Revisited in 2021: Dark Souls Remastered. I love Souls games and Dark Souls 1 has a special place in my heart. This year was extra special because my wife decided to play the game and this is totally out of her wheelhouse. She's pretty close to the end too, all but one lord soul and then we can head for the final boss.
Least Favorite Game beat in 2021: Yike, I played a lot of bad games this year. Xena on GBC. I streamed my playthrough and that game is just absolutely terrible. Same devs as Superman 64.
Top 10 Games played in 2021:
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PS5)
- Dark Souls Remastered (NS)
- Dark Souls III (X1)
- Pokemon Sword (NS)
- Nioh (PS4)
- Bowser's Fury (NS)
- Metroid Dread (NS)
- Forza Horizon 5 (XS)
- Hades (XS)
- Unpacking (X1)
Ten worst games played in 2021- Xena (GBC)
- Mega Man X7 (PS4)
- Sonic The Hedgehog (360)
- Shadow the Hedgehog (GCN)
- Mega Man X8 (PS4)
- Mega Man Xtreme (GBC)
- Mega Man Xtreme 2 (GBC)
- Kotodama (NS)
- Xena (PS1)
- The World Ends with You (NS)